The Table for Open Air Tourism – born last May in Italy by APC (Caravan and Camper Manufacturers Association), Assocamp, Assocamping-Confesercenti and FAITA-Federcamping and coordinated by PleinAir magazine – met last night together with ENIT – National Agency of Tourism for a confrontation linked to the requests that the world of open air tourism is carrying out in this delicate moment. The event ended with the acknowledgment by Giorgio Palmucci, president of ENIT, of the importance of this industry and with his formal commitment to an important collaboration between sector associations and public structures.
In the start-up phase of the Table, Palmucci expressed his satisfaction in seeing a “physical” event, and not just a virtual one, such as the Salone del Camper in Parma, and then underlined how the normal planned ENIT activity had to be revolutionized following the Covid-19 pandemic. “The role of ENIT has changed a bit,” said the president. “Until now we had been involved in the promotion of tourism from abroad to Italy, while this year we have worked above all to make the country known to Italians”. Then Palmucci addressed the issue of outdoor tourism, highlighting how in Europe the tourists who stayed at the campsite in 2019 exceeded 360 million overnight stays, of which 15%, or about 55 million, in Italy.
“This number represents an important share,” he said. “In the promotional activity that ENIT has begun to carry out after the lockdown, we are working to try to restart those flows, even if surely those numbers cannot be repeated this year. Outdoor tourism is very important, not only at a domestic level, but also at a European level, because it allows you to comply with measures of social distancing and prevention that guarantee a safe holiday. As ENIT we are absolutely available. We work with the Regions, with the Municipalities and above all with operators and trade associations to listen to the requests and make sure that the work done by our teams is useful to the operators and leads to revising those tourism numbers forgotten due to the lockdown”.
APC: do not disperse these tourist flows
The APC intervened, through its new general manager, Ludovica Sanpaolesi, recalling the numbers of the sector: a production of about 22,000 motorhomes (of which over 70% destined for export), a European car fleet that between motorhomes and caravan amounts to almost 5.7 million vehicles and a consequent number of tourists which, assuming crews of 4 people, reaches almost 23 million people. Sanpaolesi then emphasized the spending power and attitudes of this type of tourist.
“The investment to access the world of the motorhomes is not negligible, because the price varies from a minimum of 40/45,000 euros up to 100,000 euros, with peaks of 150/180,000 euros for high-end products”, she underlined. “This figure makes us understand that we are not talking about ‘poor’ tourists, who try to spend as little as possible. Instead, they are tourists with excellent financial resources. A university study has shown that each crew spends between 200 and 250 euros a day, especially on food and wine products. These are therefore important numbers, and above all this is a tourist who also moves in the middle and low season periods: we can define him as a ‘slow’ traveler, who also loves tourist destinations far from mass tourism, perhaps staying in campsites that they are comfortable and well-equipped accommodation facilities. Campers are therefore a precious resource for the territories that host them and the countries that welcome them”.
Sanpaolesi then sees a goal in the future to keep in mind. “Countries competing with Italy from a tourist point of view advertise their destinations in Italian magazines that talk about motorhomes,” she said. “We must not therefore disperse this important tourist flow in favor of other countries. Campers are not very sensitive to the issue of staying in their own country, because they feel safe inside their motorhomes, almost in a health bubble. They are therefore potentially very inclined to move within Europe and this represents a great opportunity for us: we must attract foreign campers and be good at keeping our fellow citizens in Italy”.
Finally, the Managing Director of APC highlighted two trends that are certainly worth keeping in mind. “For the future there are ‘megatrends’, one of which is individualism,” Sanpaolesi said. “The motorhome allows you to decide independently where to go and when to leave. The second megatrend is the awareness of the need to reduce the environmental impact. Motorhomes do not consume territory and the ‘country system’ that knows how to intercept these trends will benefit from the presence of tourists with high spending potential. Not welcoming them would be a mistake, because it would only benefit other countries. We think this is a great opportunity for Italy”.
FAITA-Federcamping: finally a proactive mechanism has been set in motion
The word was then passed to Maurizio Vianello, President of FAITA-Federcamping, who expressed satisfaction in seeing how the attention of institutions towards outdoor tourism is changing and how today a new collaboration between the various actors is emerging in the sector. “I am pleased to speak after the APC representative, because this represents a change in relations,” said Vianello. “I am happy because today it emerges that camping tourism is no longer considered a low-cost, pseudo-social tourism for the poor. Instead, it is a method that is well recognized abroad and seen as an opportunity and which in Italy had lost this characteristic until this year. Taking the sum of the summer presences in Italian campsites we will realize that perhaps less than half of the foreign tourists came to our country. I think it is strategic for ENIT to think of a communication plan that includes a campaign for the promotion of our territory, underlining the existence of over 2,500 campsites scattered throughout the country. Today’s ENIT is certainly different from that of the past, because the world of camping was not in the least valued before. Finally, today a proactive mechanism is set in motion. I think that this group that has come together thanks to the ability of PleinAir can represent new projects in the coming weeks or months”.
Assocamp: welcome in all seasons
For Ester Bordino, president of Assocamp, one of the limits to be overcome is that of accommodation facilities that are open only during the hottest months, because the camper needs to be welcomed in all seasons. “After a first moment of fear for the lockdown and for the months of forced stop, also thanks to specific campaigns that we have launched, our market has seen a good recovery,” he said. “But in addition to having sold these vehicles, we must advise these people where to go. We must ensure that the campsites are open all year round, because a motorhome is always used and therefore there is a need to have facilities that can accommodate them. We advised our customers not to go abroad this year, choosing Italian facilities because it was safer. Many have listened to us, some obviously not. But among those who stayed in Italy, the most frequent complaint is that in many countries or cities one is not welcomed well: there is still the image of the poor tourist, of B series. This is not the case, because spending for a motorhome is not indifferent. A family spends on catering, on local products, so this type of tourism should be re-evaluated, and we should start thinking about having more facilities and more hospitality. This is why I ask those who represent the campsites to come together and make sure that the facilities are open all year round ready to welcome Italian and foreign tourists”.
Assocamping-Confesercenti: a sector that must be enhanced
Numbers are the factor that Monica Saielli, president of Assocamping-Confesercenti, also wanted to underline, especially for the benefit of the ENIT representative. “Campsites represent the second type of accommodation, with 1.3 million beds and a turnover of 5 billion euros, including related industries,” said Saielli. “In 2020, presences should settle around 40 percent compared to last year, but in any case these are numbers that cannot be ignored, especially with reference to foreign tourists, who represent 50 percent of our presences”.
Then the theme shifted to the merits of this type of tourism. “Open-air hospitality is interesting and winning because it combines a lifestyle based on simplicity, sociality and environmental sustainability,” explained Saielli. “This is why its ‘appeal’ is destined to increase. In this emergency situation, campsites and tourist villages have represented the ideal holiday for many, with many people approaching this type of holiday for the first time. The facilities have proven they can offer a stay in a safe environment. They are comparable to large parks: fixed structures have a minimal impact on the total area and this represents an added value. Unfortunately, however, we are often a little ignored: the institutions do not know our world and our characteristics exactly. And it is difficult to make our peculiarities understood when the interlocutor does not know us. The signal coming from this table is positive and I therefore hope that this sector will be enhanced within the Italian tourism system”.
The conclusions were left to Giorgio Palmucci, who took note with interest of what was expressed at the Table. “I agree when it is said that from complex situations like this one must be able to grasp an understanding of different tourism models, trying to avoid mistakes that may have been made in the past. This type of tourism is absolutely consistent with the objective that the ministry, regions and ENIT had already set themselves for the next few years, regardless of the Covid factor. Looking not only at the number of overnight stays, but also at the growth in value through seasonal adjustment, having a country that could acquire tourists throughout the year, and devolution. Due to the effects of Covid, no one talks about ‘overtourism’ anymore, but last year we had major problems that led to distorting the quality of tourism and a trip to our country. Everything I have heard about motorhome and caravan owners, with very important numbers in which the percentage of distribution between foreign and foreign tourism is consistent, is positive. Therefore, I can only agree that as ENIT we must commit ourselves to ensure that this type of tourism is promoted with actions to be shared with associations and representatives of the sector, in order to be incisive and show the government and regions the importance of outdoor tourism. We could dedicate a part of the budget available for this type of holiday and it will be my care to make a report of what I heard today and then pass on ideas to be developed that I would like to share with you”.
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