Italy is preparing to create 1,000 new motorcaravan rest areas for itinerant tourism

The Italian Minister of Tourism, Massimo Garavaglia, spoke at the inauguration of the Salone del Camper in Parma. Emphasizing that the tourism industry in Italy represents 13-14% of GDP and that it occupies 15% of the active population, he spoke of a potential 20% to reach. To do this, it is essential to intercept the demand.

“With a view to increasing investments in the outdoor tourism sector, we have decided to finance the construction of 1,000 quality motorcaravan rest areas, to be built throughout Italy,” said Garavaglia. “France has 4,000 rest areas, while in Italy we currently have over 2,000: we risk not being able to intercept tourists from Northern Europe and for this reason we have decided to allocate funds for the construction of good quality rest areas“.

An important element will be sustainability. “Generation Z, two billion people in the world, shows us the way: for them, sustainability is not a trend, but a fact,” the minister stressed. Outdoor tourism, in constant growth in recent years, is the one that best suits this type of request.

Open-air tourism on the rise

The latest PWG research on tourism in Italy shows that since the beginning of the pandemic two out of three Italians have grown the propensity for outdoor holidays. According to FAITA-FederCamping data, summer 2022 confirms an important recovery for Italian campsites with a total of 10.5 million arrivals and over 69 million overnight stays, indicating a growth forecast for the 2022 season of 30% compared to 2021. In this context, the forecast of growth in sensitivity for sustainable tourism and eco-tourism in the next 10 years is 69%.

In fact, a survey on sustainable tourism by UniVerde highlights the growing attention to green issues. Among the respondents, 58% are faced with the problem of making choices that do not harm the environment when planning their vacation. The tourism sector is therefore called upon to undergo a profound transformation in terms of sustainability to adequately respond to the new purchasing behavior of tourists.