A recent survey by Enit revealed a 3% increase of tourist arrivals to Italy from Germany and United Kingdom while the Russian incoming estimates are at -30%.
According to 67.8% of the interviewed domestic tour operators and 58.5% of the foreign ones, the outlook for this summer is quite positive for Italy. Their optimism is further encouraged by the recent data provided by Istat, the Italian institute for statistics. For the first quarter of 2015 Istat recorded a 5.3% increase in arrivals and a plus 3.7% of presences and travel expenses, as well as a 5.2% increase of tourists in general.
The Enit survey of the expected sales for the tourist season says there is a “3% increase in incoming from Germany and United Kingdom, a good flow from France, Spain and Austria. In Switzerland and Holland all signs say the situation is stable.”
International political tensions in Russia and the loss of value of the Ruble caused a negative trend for tourism towards Italy. The main Russian tour operators say the decrease in sales, compared to the previous year, should be around 30%. Decrease of demand caused Russian operators to cut down flights from less important cities, gathering them around Moscow and St. Petersburg.
As far as the American market is concerned, summer will bring positive results with a sale increase of tourist packages around 10-15% compared to 2014.
Chinese tourists still see Italy as one of their favorite countries. A 23% increase in estimated sales confirms this. For Chinese tourists, in Europe only France has more sales than Italy. New air routes established by Alitalia/Etihad and a friendly policy for tourist visas also played a major role in this increase.
Regarding the incoming tourism from Japan, sales are stable. The survey recorded a 5% increase from Australia, especially in June and September, traditionally vacation months for Australians.
The trend from Brazil is stable.