At the InOut | The Contract Community event, FAITA-FederCamping held a conference presenting the results of two studiesanalyzing the numbers, trends, and performance of the 2024 tourist season. The “Open Air 2024 – Survey on trends and performance of the 2024 tourist season” involved Valeria Minghetti, Head of Research at CISET, Ca’ Foscari University, and Rosarianna Candido, Project Manager of HBenchmark Open Air.
Minghetti presented the results of the regular survey conducted among accommodation facilities at the beginning of the season to gather operators’ perspectives in May and again in September to assess the season’s progress and compare it with expectations. The survey involved 359 companies out of about 2,000 registered, representing various types of destinations and regions. The survey was conducted in early September.
Data confirming expectations
The emerging data are fairly consistent with the forecasts made at the beginning of the season. There is substantial stability in foreign tourism (-0.5% in both arrivals and overnight stays), while there has been a decrease in Italian tourists compared to 2023: -2.6% in arrivals and -3.0% in overnight stays. This impacted revenue, which recorded a slight decline (-0.7%) despite a further increase in rates compared to the previous season, averaging a 2.4% rise.
For 53% of the companies surveyed, foreign tourism performed as expected, while 28% reported it as below expectations. In the case of Italian tourism, the result matched expectations for 56% of respondents, while 32.4% reported a decline. In terms of revenue, 57% of companies confirmed the anticipated results, while 25% achieved lower outcomes.
“The operators’ comments indicate that the weather conditions in May and June and the very variable weather in September influenced the season’s performance,” commented Valeria Minghetti. “In some cases, the sharp increase in temperatures in July-August and the issue of drought, along with the economic situation, were also highlighted”.
Reasons behind growth or decline
After a strong increase in 2022 compared to 2019, in 2024, 45% of companies reported stability in the number of new customers compared to 2023, while 40% saw growth, and 10% experienced a decline. The ratio of old to new customers remained roughly unchanged at 54% to 46%.
The study then focused on the reasons behind growth or decline. For foreign tourists, the main reasons for the increase were Italy’s appeal (55.9%), growing interest in outdoor vacations (28.4%), the desire to travel abroad (24.5%), and the variety and quality of Italy’s campsites and holiday villages (22.5%). The decline, on the other hand, was attributed to the uncertain economic situation in the EU, reducing the willingness to spend on tourism (39%), shorter vacations due to less disposable income (29%), Italy being perceived as too expensive (25.6%), bad weather at the start of the season (20%), and rising fuel costs (20%).
The increase in Italian tourists, where observed, was due to limited financial resources favoring shorter vacations within national borders (31.9%), a rediscovery or reevaluation of Italy as a tourist destination (30.6%), preference for “safe” vacations within national borders (30.6%), and the variety and quality of campsites and holiday villages in Italy (20%). The decline was justified by shorter vacations due to reduced financial resources (57.5%), the uncertain economic situation leading to reduced tourism spending (40.7%), and the high cost of products and services (31.9%).
Poland and mountain tourism show greatest growth
The market that grew the most, according to 45% of the companies surveyed, was Poland, followed by France and Germany (42%). The Netherlands was reported as growing by 28% of companies and declining by another 28%. Switzerland and Austriaremained stable (over 50%), while Italy was stable for 46% and declined for 28% of companies. Among other markets directly mentioned by respondents, strong demand was noted from other parts of Eastern Europe (particularly the Czech Republic), Belgium, Denmark, the UK + Ireland, and Scandinavia.
In terms of types of tourism, mountain tourism showed the most interesting dynamics, likely due to the high temperatures in July and August, with 45% of companies reporting growth. This was followed by cultural tourism, growing for 35% of companies, while seaside and lake tourism remained stable (around 60% of responses on average).
Geographically, the northeast performed the best overall, with an increase in revenue (+2.4%) higher than the average (-0.7%), also due to a price increase (+3.2%) higher than in other areas (average +2.4%).
Different sample, interesting trends
“With CISET, we conducted the most comprehensive national analysis possible, taking into account the proportions of the businesses,” said Alberto Granzotto, President of FAITA-FederCamping. “With HBenchmark, we have a representation of companies that have already joined the agreement,which is not perfectly equivalent to the CISET sample. This results in some differences in the findings, also because the northeastern component is much more significant in this case. However, even here, interesting trends are emerging for analysis”.
Founded in 2018, the HBenchmark Open Air project offers the ability to monitor a series of over 200 indicators, examining both consolidated historical data and real-time and forecast data, with booking trends for the next 12 months. For individual entrepreneurs, all this information is essential to monitor their business performance and understand their market positioning.
“We analyzed four macro-categories: pitches, bungalows/villas, caravans/mobile homes, and tents/glamping,” explained Rosarianna Candido, Project Manager of HBenchmark Open Air. “The platform, in addition to providing an overview of macro-trends in the sector, offers the ability to monitor trends for each product type individually”.
Growth started from April 25
The HBenchmark service cluster consists of 91 campsites with over 30,000 available housing units, located mainly on the Brescia side of Lake Garda, in Emilia-Romagna (mainly on the Adriatic Riviera), in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, on Elba Island, in Tuscany, the Marche, Abruzzo, and the Aosta Valley. Overall, these campsites represent 16% of those associated with FAITA.
Considering the period from March 22 to September 30 and examining the lake and seaside clusters, consisting of 57 campsites with a total of 19,239 available units, a very positive trend was observed, with average occupancy up by 1% at lake destinations and 0.9% at seaside destinations. This was despite significantly lower Easter attendance compared to 2023. A strong surge in bookings was recorded starting from April 25. From mid-July onwards, there was a “sold-out” situation.
Profitability increases almost everywhere
The HBenchmark platform also allows monitoring of average price trends by category. Examining caravans/mobile homes in 4-star structures, the lake and seaside clusters follow a similar trend, with the difference that at lakes, prices tend to be dynamic, while at seaside destinations, prices are more static, closer to the season’s start.
Looking at profitability variations per available unit, there was a decline in bungalows/villas (-3.2%) at lake destinations, and a decrease in tents and glamping products (-4.6%) at seaside destinations. However, all other indicators were positive: pitches increased by 8.8% at lakes and 29.5% at seaside destinations, caravans/mobile homes by 6.5% at lakes and 9.5% at seaside destinations, bungalows/villas by 4% at seaside destinations, and tents/glamping by 8.3% at lakes. On average, there was a 4% growth at lakes, with total revenues of €4.6 million, and 7.5% growth at seaside destinations, with total revenues of €13.2 million.
When analyzing markets, Germany accounted for 56% (+2%) at lakes and 34% (+0.2%) at seaside destinations, followed by the Netherlands (16% lakes, 3% seaside) and Italy (10% lakes, 41% seaside). Germans and Dutch tourists also stood out for having longer stays (9.3 days at seaside destinations and 11.3 days for the former, 12.3 and 11.2 respectively for the latter).
“All this information is crucial,” emphasized Rosarianna Candido, “because if a destination or even a single structure wants to focus on marketing campaigns, they know exactly what their starting point is”.
Italy’s importance in Europe
Alberto Granzotto closed the conference by stating, “We have two studies with different samples, but they both lead to significant reflections. After the record-breaking 2023 season for most operators, seeing the 2024 data confirm expectations is a very significant result, especially since 2024 was marked by particularly adverse weather conditions at times. Having participated in the European Campsites Association (EFCO&HPA, ed.) event and listened to the summer overview from various countries, I can confidently say that our figures are the most impressive: we held up better. The French market, which is the largest in Europe, reported a drop of over 3%. This confirms that our product has strong appeal”.
President Granzotto concluded by responding to a question about expectations for 2025: “I can only speak for the companies I represent, and I can say that, at the moment, the forecasts for 2025 are in line with those we had at the same time last year for 2024. However, we are concerned about the economic conditions of both the national market and our main foreign market, Germany, as the economic sentiment is clearly a very important factor. On the other hand, we must also recognize that we are consolidating a product that is emerging with a certain level of quality, and this too must be taken into account. Then, there is the weather factor, which has caused shifts in tourist flows across Europe. Finally, much will also depend on the operators’ ability to manage price fluctuations”.
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