Geopolitical Crisis and War: How Italian Tourism’s Summer Is Changing.
Fiavet Confcommercio Survey to Measure Changes in Direction and the Major Fears of Italians Entering Travel Agencies.
Geopolitical tensions are impacting the organised tourism market, and Fiavet Confcommercio has attempted to capture the phenomenon through a detailed survey of its member travel agencies throughout Italy.
The summer booking climate is changing and is influenced by current scenarios. Still, the alarm is not serious: 32.6% of agencies have reported only a moderate decrease in bookings, 19.2% have seen no significant impact, and 17.3% have seen a slight decline in bookings. However, it should be noted that those experiencing a sharp decrease in bookings (30.7%) should be added to this, bringing the total number of travel agencies to approximately 80%, which are experiencing a decline, even if small, due to the wars surrounding us.
When dealing with customers, travel agencies face various, often unfounded, fears regarding destinations where the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not advised against them.
The highest percentage of fears regarding upcoming trips is directed toward the Middle East (22.09%), followed by Egypt (16.8%), with a particular focus on the Red Sea (3.4%). Surprisingly, there is also fear of travelling to the United States (12%), which is even more fearful than the United Arab Emirates (10.47%) and Jordan (6.98%).
In general, however, there is a fear about international travel, even medium-haul ones such as those to Turkey, albeit at a lower percentage (5.8%). However, the percentage decline in bookings is low for countries with no summer bookings, such as Israel and Ukraine.
When asked if travel agencies have encountered customer concerns following the geopolitical situation, approximately 70% responded that fear and insecurity due to the escalation of conflicts are reflected in travel decisions.
The most significant percentage of “scared” tourists are those considering cancelling or changing their trip: 55% have already done so or would like to do so soon, even if they pay penalties, while 40% prefer to wait for future developments in ongoing wars before booking.
However, despite this “feeling” of uncertainty, less than 5% of tourists have cancelled a trip due to an ongoing war in countries neighbouring their chosen destination, according to 54.7% of travel agencies. Those reporting cancellations of more than 30% are just 11.3% of travel agencies.
It should also be noted that people are increasingly interested in routes and airport stopovers (30% of tourists), trying to avoid some of them.
Faced with this situation, nearly half of Fiavet Confcommercio travel agents (47.7%) have yet to identify a concrete measure to stem the problem, which seemed to be a limited phenomenon but is instead proving to be structural.
Only a minority of travel agents are active (16.9%) and are adopting strategies with timely information on social media, especially disseminating the certainties coming from the Farnesina and the Viaggiare Sicuri portal.
They are relaunching with new destinations, but they are listening to customers to find solutions together (26.2% of agencies).
Travel agencies have found little support from suppliers (approximately 57% of agencies say they have not received help), as they handle cancellations regardless of the reasons behind them. Fortunately, some agencies are finding support from their foreign correspondents (21%), eager to preserve tourism in countries that sometimes live solely on this.
Even domestic tourism, which should benefit from the limited international travel options, hasn’t seen the expected success. According to Fiavet Confcommercio agencies, high prices are holding back, even more than last year, the choice of Italians who book at the last minute and haven’t taken advantage of advanced booking offers.
The impact of the war on the tourism business remains devastating for approximately 60% of industry professionals, and therefore, Fiavet Confcommercio travel agents are cautiously pessimistic about tourism affected by the geopolitical crisis (37%). However, even among those who believe the war was devastating, a significant percentage is optimistic: 23.19%.
By Mario Masciullo
BIO:
My career in civil aviation took flight in 1960, beginning with British European Airways (BEA). In 1971, I joined East African Airways (EAA), and shortly thereafter, I was honoured to be selected as one of the qualified candidates for the managerial role at Malaysia & Singapore Airlines (MAS).
In 1972, following the decision by the Malaysian and Singaporean governments to separate the airline into two national carriers, I continued my professional journey with Singapore Airlines. I proudly served as the Marketing Manager for Italy, Greece, and Malta until 1987.
With a journalist’s license I had previously acquired, I decided to transition fully into journalism. My debut was with the Milan-based press agency Milanopress, and I have continued to write and collaborate with both Italian and international press ever since.
I remain active in the field and am a proud member of the Foreign Press Club in Italy, headquartered in Rome.
