Articolo disponibile anche in: Italian
Tuscany remains one of the favorite “in country” destinations for Italians: 14.4% have already reserved or are ready to reserve their vacation in Tuscany.
Mostly they will arrive from the Lombardy and Piedmont regions, but many will be coming from Latium (capital: Rome). Fewer will be traveling from the south and the Italian islands. This is the general picture emerging from research on Italian vacations run by the Pragma society between May and June of 2016.
The study was illustrated by the director of the “Tuscany Promotional Association”, Alberto Peruzzini, in occasion of the meeting, “Turismo e Toscana, la nuova governance regionale del turismo. Scenari e previsioni” (Tuscany and Tourism, the new regional governance of tourism. Scenario and forecast), organized by the Tuscan Region and focusing on the politics of the sector.
The study underlines a solid image of Tuscany and its capacity to be attractive to all types of tourism. This coming summer, the beach will be the number one destination with 38% of vacationing tourists. The data referring to cities of art and historic villages (25% even in full summer season), is revealing, while active tourism (14%) slightly outnumbers wine-food destinations with 12%.
The latter, however still remains one of the major attractions of Tuscany, followed by the countryside, chosen by 9%. Regarding the type of lodging, the informal hospitality sector is growing: 27% plan to stay in B and B’s, while only 24% have chosen a hotel. Third place is held by farm-stays (19%), rented private homes (18%), campsites (9%) and self-owned homes (3%).
On the whole, Tuscany is considered a quality tourist destination, and this is a winning factor. “Quality” doesn’t refer only to hotels, food or other hospitality services, but to a wider concept. Thanks to the elements which characterize the region, the tourist takes “beauty” into consideration, but is interested in security (a new, growing need among tourists), hotel quality, and public services as well.
Quality, therefore, is in first place among the reasons for Tuscany’s success. Other factors enter the equation; the capacity to find different offers and to transmit an attractive picture of the region through the classic channels of communication, spontaneous reviews of tourists and the Internet.
The internet has become the decisive factor for the success of tourism. It activates a complex circuit: choices-decision-purchase-information from post-vacation reviews. Analyzing single navigation instruments, we can see that Google is decisive in the first phase, and naturally in the research for detailed info.
Then there are the on-line agencies for making resevations, although their influence seems to be limited to the buying phase and lesser in the rest of the decision making.