The fourth edition of the Outdoor Tourism Observatory, created by Human Company in collaboration with The Data Appeal Company, highlights that over 70 percent of Italians on holiday in 2020 chose the outdoors, with a growth of 26.6% compared to 2019. This led to an occupancy rate in the sector of 6 percentage points higher than the Italian accommodation offer and to a confidence index of 85 points out of 100 in the services offered by open-air structures.
The research was conducted from January to August, analyzing 130,000 online contents – such as reviews, ratings, comments, scores – referring to about 2,000 structures in Italy (18.5% villages and 81.5% campsites) and then – starting from June until 20 September – 226,000 offers on the main Online Travel Agencies (including Booking.com, Expedia, Google, Hotels.com, TripAdvisor) by 1,918 outdoor accommodation facilities.
The report takes stock of the open air in the first season of coexistence with the Coronavirus, highlighting how more and more compatriots have chosen the outdoors as a valid alternative for safe and quality made in Italy holidays. In general, this summer saw the lack of one in two tourists, mainly due to the suffering of the city of art, which is weighed down by the absence of long-range visitors and the lack of trust of all the others. In this scenario, the outdoors managed to contain summer losses by recording a much more contained decline.
If the average expenditure is in line with the rest of the accommodation (125 euros per person), in the case of open-air hospitality the occupancy rate increases by 6 percentage points (19.8%), confirming a preference for the outdoor higher than the average. As for the origin of guests, we are witnessing a great expansion of domestic tourism – which goes from a share of 43.9% in 2019 to 70.5%, while foreign markets all have a negative sign. Note the significant increase in the share of families, which went from 61.7 to 67.4%, while all the others decreased: 20.6% couples (-3.5%), 9.9% friends / groups ( -1.4%), 1.6% singles (-0.8%).
The Covid Safety Index (CSI), owned by The Data Appeal Company, is an index capable of detecting and analyzing the perception that users have of the level of safety and anti-Covid actions offered by destinations, attractions, accommodation and restaurants, measuring their level of trust. From the survey carried out on a weekly basis from February to 4 October, an average level of confidence towards the outdoors clearly emerges greater (85 points out of 100) than the rest of the accommodation offer (73.7 points out of 100), especially in full of the summer season.
Analyzing the regional surveys, the research highlighted how the national average expresses a very diversified trend in confidence at the local level: Calabria records the highest average (96.4 points), while Lombardy, the heart of the Italian epidemic, obtains the lowest trust values (77.7 points).
The Observatory then found a number of online contents per facility (68) higher than the average for Italian accommodation (51), identifying this sector as one of those that contributes most importantly to the reputation of a destination. The “sentiment”, that is the index that summarizes the degree of satisfaction by visitors, is good, reaching 83.9 points out of 100, in particular thanks to the campsites that record a higher value (84.2 points) than villages (82.8 points).
Message from Nicolas Dayot, president of FNHPA