The forecasting index indicates a more marked progression in the second half of this year
In 2014, the Italian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will grow by 1 percent with business travel following suit. This is what is shown by the figures of the business travel sector revealed by the Uvet Travel Index, the statistical model developed by the Uvet Group with the scientific back up from The European House – Ambrosetti. The research confirms, in fact, that the 94% trend of business travel reflects the state of the economy. A estimate of growth, as predicted by the index, which is “slightly more optimistic compared to the 0.7% predicted by the European Commission, International Monetary Fund, government and Confindustria – explains Luca Patanè, president of the Uvet Group. From the data in our possession a major acceleration is set in place for the second half of 2014.” One sprint that should allow the “return to a year end at the levels of the third quarter of 2012.”
Scenes from the Peninsula
The indicator reveals, however, for Italy, a 2013 marked by a negative growth value of 1.69 points.
The survey goes into further detail on the sector, analysing the main trends for the coming months. In 2014, the method of transport chosen by business travellers will be the train, which, according to the Business Travel Survey of Uvet Amex, will already surpass air travel in the first quarter, even on the route from Milan to Rome. A goal that will mark “a definitive statement from the High-Speed Railway” indicates Patanè. Contributing to the success of the train also is the cost of the tickets, which are becoming increasingly competitive. The entrance of NTV onto the Italian market, within the last two years, has made it possible to decrease the average price by 10%.
Low-fare wave on the market
Due to the presence of low cost airlines on the Milan-Rome route, the effect of competition has also obtained a positive impact on the cost of tickets that, between the first and second half of 2013, declined an average of 15 percent.
The most popular Italian cities
In terms of the most popular Italian destinations for trips made by train, with 34 per cent, Milan remains at the top. Followed by Rome, however, recording a slight decrease in favor of other cities such as Turin, Bologna, Florence and Naples.
If the national air traffic is adversely affected by the development of the high-speed network, it is the opposite for "the European and intercontinental ones which are recovering volumes," points out the president of the Group Uvet.
According to the Business Travel Survey, in 2013, faced with the slowdown recorded by the BRIC countries, sales have been recovered by the so-called Civets, an acronym that indicates the new emerging countries: Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa.