(ANSA) – ROME, DECEMBER 15 – Inflation, high tariffs and conflicts in the Middle East are slowing departures for the upcoming Christmas holidays. Almost 500,000 Italians will travel this year on holiday with a complete holiday package booked through travel agents, of which 286,000 will travel to an international destination. A number that rises to around 2 million if one also takes into account those who bought even one service – from tickets to tourist services – in an agency, around 114,000 fewer than in 2022 (-5.4%). This emerges from the survey carried out by the Center for Tourism Studies of Florence for Assoviaggi Confesercenti among 523 organized tourism entrepreneurs.
Top of the list of most popular holiday types for the Christmas holidays are European capitals (61.3%), followed by Italian art cities (52.3%), while the exotic sea and intercontinental travel are chosen by 45% and 36.9% respectively. the sample.
“The year 2023 has started well for travel agencies and tour operators, with more than satisfactory results in the first half of the year,” explains Assoviaggi President Gianni Rebecchi.
“However, there was no shortage of difficulties in the second part.
86.6% of the companies surveyed clearly felt the impact of inflation and expensive flights on middle class customers who chose trips of shorter duration or even forgo trips. In fact, according to our survey, it turns out that a flight from Milan to Palermo now costs more than 500 euros, and a plane ticket to Calabria even more than 700 euros: figures that make it difficult, if not impossible. , the return of workers and students from home to their families for the Christmas holidays. The war in the Middle East also had a strong impact: many cancellations to countries such as Egypt and Jordan, which were not involved in the conflict and were among the most booked in the first ten months of the year, and numerous requests to change destinations. The “uncertainty effect” created by the conflict also weighs heavily.” (ANSA).
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