Time.news – The summer of 2021 will not be remembered as that of the post-pandemic recovery: in fact, the absence of foreign tourists continues, especially intercontinental flows, but also a few Europeans; Italians reschedule down, postpone vacation choices and, what’s worse, they tend to cancel bookings: the delta variant is scary. This is what emerges from the Confturismo-Confcommercio and Swg Observatory on the confidence of Italian travelers for the month of July.
In fact, if the Italians ready to leave are 17 million, 34% of these, equal to 5.8 million, declare that they have already canceled at least one of the previously made reservations for tourist services and, of the remaining 66%, almost a third is ready to cancel what has been booked, if the epidemiological indices worsen. In summary, if already this year 8 million summer vacationers were missing compared to the numbers of Italians before the pandemic, potentially another 8 million fewer are added.
After a June “flop” then, July closes well below expectations, with 9% of respondents choosing this month for holidays of 3-7 days and 13% for holidays of over 1 week. But in the forecasts of compatriots August also falls, especially as a month for holidays of more than 7 days, passing from 33% to 28% of preferences; while September remains in vogue for now, especially for short breaks of 1 or 2 nights at most. So the Italians, compared to what emerged in May, are postponing the departure forecasts and shortening the length of the trips.
It is the effect of the “delta variant”, which is more scary than the new rules on the adoption of the digital green certificate on which the interviewees agree in 79% of cases, even if the survey closed on 20 July, therefore 3 days before the release of the relative decree.
To suffer most of all are foreign destinations. Spain, Greece and France resist. Nine out of ten Italians opt for domestic holidays, the highest value ever recorded in 5 years of surveys. Puglia, Sicily and Tuscany remain at the top of the preferences, together with the classic destinations of Veneto, Emilia Romagna and Liguria, for a holiday that for 60% of Italians, at least in the expectations of the moment, is dedicated to the sea.
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