In Rimini, at SIA Hospitality Design, FAITA-FederCamping organized its national assembly. The event entitled “Quality and innovation: central and essential elements in the national Open Air offer” was an opportunity to disseminate the open-air tourism data of the 2023 season. According to FAITA, the stabilized data for the month of September confirm the growth already detected during the 2023 season compared to the already positive 2022 and also compared to the forecasts of last June, calibrated on bookings, in the analysis of the CISET-International Center for Studies on the Tourism Economy.
The numbers indicate an overall growth for the sector in the order of 4.7%, with 11 million arrivals and attendance at 69.5 million (+7%). In terms of absolute data, these are 500,000 more guests, with an increase of just over 4.5 million presences (in 2022, a record year for the sector, there were 10.5 million arrivals and 65 million attendance). The average stay was just over 6 days per guest, a slight decrease compared to last year. The overall turnover of the sector has risen to just under €6 billion. The presence of guests with recreational vehicles is also growing strongly: +10% compared to 2022, confirming a trend that characterizes the last 3 years in Italy as in Europe.
The meeting organized in Rimini was an essential moment of discussion, which underlined the importance of quality for the outdoor tourism sector. The season was characterized by a leopard skin trend, with marked territorial characterizations. In fact, according to the data collected by the FAITA regional associations, locally there has been a marked growth in both the North-East and the North-West regions, on average of 4% (arrivals and presences). The Center is improving, while the South and the islands are recording a contraction, also due to the unfavorable climate in the months of June and July.
Foreigners as in the pre-pandemic era
From the point of view of flows, the composition of 2022 is confirmed: 55% of tourists arrived from abroad and 45% from Italy, with a marked return to pre-pandemic levels of foreign guests. The loyalty rate of new guests was high, especially Italians, who had tried an outdoor holiday in the wake of the post-covid restrictions and who particularly rewarded the structures that invested in their product by raising quality standards and services.
The trend confirms the strong growth of the open-air, firmly in second place after hotels in terms of guest choice. Furthermore, the 2023 data indicates that the demand for open-air tourism is growing, especially among the structures that have qualitatively adjusted their offer by responding to the standards of sustainability and accessibility for which the sector is specifically suited.
“For a few years now, open-air has finally been appreciated for what it really is,” said Alberto Granzotto, president of FAIT-FederCamping. “Not a minor type of tourism, but a new holiday philosophy, where the guest is at the centre. Accessibility, sustainability, quality, and innovation will be the 4 fundamental pillars of the Federation’s next activities. The objective is to bring the offer up to the challenges posed by the market and guide entrepreneurs towards an increasingly qualified approach. The open-air operators must know how to combine the pragmatism of the entrepreneur with the imagination of the dreamer, imagining their company as a place totally immersed in the naturalistic context in which they operates while enhancing the traditions and specific characteristics of the territories.”
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