Industry experts say that since international travel started up again in the spring, Italy has been one of the most popular summer destinations in Europe. Demand for travel has risen to levels not seen since the start of the pandemic.
This year, Canada, Australia, England, and Spain are expected to bring the same number of tourists as they did in 2019. This is according to Confcommercio, an Italian group that represents tourism businesses.
But the organisation says that Americans are the main reason why tourism in Italy is on the rise again.
A recent Confcommercio survey found that about 2.2 million Americans are expected to visit Italy by the end of the summer. Between July and September, they are expected to spend 2.1 billion euros, which is 20% more than in 2019.
Fortunato said that most of her clients go to Italy for honeymoons, anniversaries, or trips that were supposed to happen in 2020 but were put off. She also said that the number of last-minute bookings has gone up in recent months.
People are making reservations two months in advance instead of six to nine months in advance.
This year, the Amalfi Coast has been the most-booked place in Italy through Fortunato, followed by Tuscany, Rome, Florence, and Venice.
“A few clients who have been to Italy before want to go to Cinque Terre or Lake Como,” she said, adding that most of her clients visit two or three places during their trip and use the trains to get from one place to the next.
“This year, we’re doing a lot of trips before and after river cruises,” said Frank Marini, CEO of Railbookers Group. Railbookers Group is a rail travel and vacation packager that specialises in FIT itineraries that can be changed to fit the needs of the traveller.
Marini said that because many river cruises start or end on the Rhine River in Basel, Switzerland is a popular place for people to start a rail tour to Italy before or after their cruise.
Railbookers offers trips to some of Italy’s most popular places, like Lake Como, Cinque Terre, Naples, and the Amalfi Coast. These trips can start after a river cruise in Basel, Geneva, or Zurich.
Toni Lanotte-Day, the owner of Toni Tours in Levittown, Pennsylvania, has also seen this market grow. This summer, 20 people from the Emerald Azzurra are going to Venice and Bologna, which are in the “bread basket” area of Italy. She is also taking a group of 18 people from 2020 to Naples and Sicily in October.
A tour guide for Lake Como For You named Pietro Radiocovich said that tourism to the area has “really grown in the last 10 years, mostly from the U.S. and Britain, especially after Covid, where we’re now seeing a big tourism explosion.”
