Italian
cities and regions are sending delegations of tourism promoters to
London in June in a bid to attract visitors. For the first
time, they will be attending the City Fair 2013 workshop, organised
by the European Tour Operators Association (ETOA), where they will
have the opportunity to present their destinations to tour operators
in a series of one-to-one meetings.
Data
from the Italian National Institute of Statistics shows a 5.7%
decrease in domestic trips in 2012. This trend is reflected in
regions across Italy and shows a need to attract foreign visitors to
compensate for a faltering domestic market. With the most
recent UNWTO Tourism Highlights report confirming Italy’s 21% share
of overseas visitors to Europe, this is a realistic objective.
Toscana
Promozione noted: ‘In terms of city tourism, an increase in
arrivals from foreign markets has helped balance the decrease from
the Italian market, keeping the total number of visitors stable at
2011 levels. For the first time foreign markets make up 52.2% of the
overall tourism arrivals in Tuscany.’
Highlighting
the importance of engaging with foreign markets, Genoa saw a slight
decrease in foreign visitor arrivals between 2011/12 (-0.79%)
compared to a much larger decrease in domestic arrivals (-7.6%).
The relative resilience of the foreign market is especially important
considering that the average daily expenditure of a foreign visitor
to the city is €350 compared to €185 for an Italian visitor.
Visitors
to Italy from traditional origin markets such as France, Germany, USA
and UK remain stable, whilst arrivals from emerging markets China,
India and Russia demonstrate particular growth.
Some
Italian destinations are working hard to ensure they are accessible
and appeal to overseas visitors. For example, new flight
connections have helped boost overseas arrivals to Puglia with an
increase in arrivals of almost 85% from the UK. The region is
actively targeting foreign visitors by promoting lesser-known areas
such as Valle D’Itria, Cisternino, Martina Franca and Locorotondo,
as well as focussing on providing value for money and developing
better tourism services.
ETOA’s
Executive Director, Tom Jenkins said: “No destination sells itself.
By attending City Fair, the Italian buyers are appealing to a range
of operators who bring clients in from throughout the world”.
