Istat tourism data 2021: recovery, but numbers far from 2019

In 2021, travel by residents in Italy totaled 41 million 648 thousand (281 million 491 thousand overnight stays), close to 2020 levels but far from pre-pandemic 2019 levels.

This is the figure from the statistical report Travel and Holidays in Italy and Abroad compiled by Istat and published on April 11. This is not a sample survey, but a report on real data. As we approach the 2022 summer season, an analysis compared to the previous year is useful.

From the data, there are tentative signs of recovery for vacations of 4 nights or more (+25 percent) and summer vacations, and people who took at least one vacation between July and September are 33.9 percent, compared to 30.9 percent in 2020. This is a varied analysis that points to double-digit positive values as a consequence of the fact that 2020 had seen Italians’ travel reach an all-time low.

In 2021, in fact, there were 50 million more overnight stays than in 2020 (+21.8%), nearly 45 million more vacation trips; about 5 million more business trips. They marked a +23.2% increase in long vacations in summer compared to the same period in 2020, and 14.8% of residents took at least one trip in one quarter in 2021 13.1% in 2020. As for travel abroad, while there is an upswing compared to the first year of the pandemic (+29%), cross-border trips are only 26% of those recorded in 2019 while the choice of Italian locations is stable (89.3% of trips).

Restrictions on activities that can be enjoyed during the vacations and uncertainty due to the health situation, therefore, continue to affect choices. Still in sharp decline (-70.8% on 2019) are vacations devoted exclusively to visits to cultural heritage, participation in events and shows, and food and wine tourism: for the second year in a row they account for a very small share of vacations (7.8%, was 16.9% in 2019). Only 7 percent of travel is for business purposes (about 3 million), with no substantial change from 2020. Representative, sales, installation or similar activities are the most frequent reasons (22.3 percent), followed by business meetings (13.8 percent) and business missions (13 percent)

The area where most tourists reside is the Northwest (21.3 percent; 30.3 percent in terms of trip origin), followed by the Northeast (18.6 percent of tourists and 27.3 percent of trips), the Center (15.5 percent of tourists and 24.4 percent of trips) and at a distance the South (6.8 percent, 10.8 percent) and the Islands (8.3 percent of tourists; 7.2 percent of trips).

In the summer quarter (July-September) compared to the summer of 2020, there is substantial stability in travel, mainly due to the upswing in long vacations, up about 23 percent (+26 percent in terms of nights). In contrast, short vacations, which were up in the summer of 2020 compared to the previous summer, experience a sharp decline (trips -21%; nights -19%). Despite a slow recovery, travel in the 2021 summer quarter is still 14% lower than in the same quarter of 2019.

2021 confirms the trend of travel mainly for pleasure, recreation or rest (73.1 percent of

vacations) and for visits to relatives and friends (25.5%). In fact, with the exception of the first quarter, characterized by the prevalence of travel for visits to relatives and friends, subsequent quarters confirm the motivations of pleasure and leisure. Travel for visits to a city (-60% in 2020) grows a lot for Italian destinations (+39% over 2020), but does not recover 2019 levels (-23.5%). However, compared to the pre-pandemic period, only summer contributed to the resilience of vacations to Italian cities, even registering a 64.4% increase in the July-September quarter compared to 2019. In contrast, foreign cities are still in sharp decline at every time of the year (-82% compared to 2019).

Summer attendance at shows and events still low

Thesummer of 2021 marks a recovery but not a recovery of both trips with at least one cultural activity (+15.7% over the same quarter of 2020) and, to a lesser extent, those with visits to natural beauty (+9.3%): compared to the same quarter of 2019, the former are still down 18% and the latter down 12%. In summer, the share of trips in which at least one cultural activity is practiced is 60.1 percent (56.1 percent in 2020), while that of trips with at least one visit to natural heritage is stable at 52.6 percent of total summer travel (52 percent in 2020).

Among activities practiced in summer, visits to cities and towns remain the favorite (86.4 percent of the total), followed by visits to monuments and historical or archaeological sites (42.6 percent) and typical local markets (31.5 percent). As usual, the weight of visits to museums and exhibitions is lower (23.8 percent), while participation in shows and events is still struggling (13.7 percent in 2021; 29.6 percent in 2019). The incidence of food and wine-related activities stands at 17 percent, a share just below that of previous years (20 percent in 2020 and 2019). Finally, visits to factories for the production of goods and services continue to be residual (4%).

Summer departures with purely cultural motivations are mainly characterized by visits to archaeological sites (88.3 percent) and cities (88.1 percent), followed by visits to museums (61.2 percent), which, compared to the previous summer recover about 10 percentage points, approaching the 2019 share (69.8 percent). Attendance at shows, cultural, folklore and religious events also owes its largest share to purely cultural vacations (22.1%), while food and wine tours continue to be more prevalent among purely scenic vacations (28.5%).

Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy, Apulia, Sicily and Veneto are the six most visited regions, collectively capturing 51.2 percent of domestic travel, with shares varying between 6.9 percent in Veneto and 11.3 percent in Tuscany, a favorite region, again in 2021, for vacations (11.5 percent), especially short ones (15.2 percent). For work, people travel more to Lazio, Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna, which together host more than 45 percent of business travel in Italy.

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Istat tourism data 2021: recovery, but numbers far from 2019

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