If there's one thing hotter than the heat wave in Europe this summer, it's travel to Italy.
Industry experts say that Italy has consistently been among the top
destinations for European summer bookings since international travel
returned in the spring, and travel demand soared to levels not seen
since the start of the pandemic.
"Summer 2022 bookings for Italy have been extremely in demand with
approximately 75% of my bookings since April being for Italy," said
Melinda Fortunato, owner of Best Travel in Fairfax, Virginia.
Italy's tourism numbers are on track to recover this year, with
international arrivals from Canada, Australia, England and Spain
returning to 2019 levels, according to Confcommercio, an Italian
organisation that represents tourism businesses.
But it's Americans who the organisation says are the number one market driving Italy's tourism recovery.
A recent Confcommercio survey found that about 2.2 million Americans
are expected to visit Italy by the end of summer and projected to spend
€2.1 billion (US$2.1 billion) between July and September, a 20% increase
from 2019.
"Honeymooners, anniversaries and postponed trips from 2020 are most
of the reasons for travelling to Italy," Fortunato said of her clients,
adding that last-minute bookings have grown in recent months. "People
are booking two months out instead of six to nine months out."
The Amalfi Coast has been the most in-demand destination for
Fortunato's Italy bookings this year, followed by Tuscany, Rome,
Florence and Venice.
"A few clients who have been to Italy before want Cinque Terre or
Lake Como," she said, adding that most of her travellers are visiting
two to three destinations during their visit and making good use of rail
services in between destinations.
"We're doing tons of pre- and post-river cruise trips this year,"
said Frank Marini, CEO of Railbookers Group, a rail travel and vacation
packager that specialises in customisable FIT itineraries.
Marini said that Switzerland is a popular starting point for
travellers wanting to do a pre- or post-cruise rail extension tour to
Italy because a number of river cruises originate or end on the Rhine
River in Basel.
Railbookers offers itineraries to Italy's most popular destinations
-- including Lake Como, Cinque Terre, Naples and the Amalfi Coast -- on
trips that can begin in Basel, Geneva or Zurich following a river
cruise.
Toni Lanotte-Day, owner of Toni Tours in Levittown, Pennsylvania, has
also seen that market grow: she has an Emerald Azzurra post-cruise
group of 20 visiting Italy's "bread basket" area of Venice and Bologna
this summer. She is also taking a group of 18 to Naples and Sicily in
October, a trip rescheduled from 2020.
Pietro Radiocovich, a tour guide who works for Lake Como For You,
said tourism to the region has "really increased in the past 10 years,
mainly from the US and Britain, especially after Covid, where we're now
experiencing a big explosion of tourism."
Source: Travel Weekly