Italy: Shopping tourism could exceed 2 million tourists next year

Rome: The research and consulting company “Risposte Turismo” has revealed that in Bologna shopping Tourism – The Italian Forum is back after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic.

As a result, shopping tourists in Italy could exceed two million in 2023, marking a higher level than the 2019 results.

In this regard, the President of Risposte Turismo Francesco di Cesare said that if the threshold of two million shopping tourists is exceeded, it would be a result that reconfirms the existence of a significant part of the tourist demand. He also added that the main reason for vacations in Italy is shopping.

Commenting on this decision, the President of Confcommercio Imprese for Italy, Carlo Sangalli, emphasized that since 2016 the data from the Shopping Tourism Italian Monitor have turned the spotlight on the very significant economic and social role of those two million annual shopping tourists in Italy reached in 2019.

“To these tourists, always pre-pandemic, are added at least another 38 million who, during their trip to Italy, have the experience of shopping for food and wine products one or more times, an enormous potential for commerce in our country and also, for this reason, one of the topics tackled today (December 1st, ed) at Bologna”, he also added.

Regarding sales points, in Italy, there are 26 structures in Italy for a total of 725,000 square meters of commercial area. In addition, Italy ranks second after the United Kingdom for the number of sales structures or 13 per cent of the total.

Through a survey conducted by Risposte Turismo, with over 600 Italian shopping tourists and those from the United States, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, 54 per cent of them said that they have shopping as the main reason for their visit to Italy.

The factors included in the choice of this destination are discounts, and promotions with 67 per cent, proximity to attractions/places to visit with 38 per cent, the presence of typical products/special or unique products with 34 per cent, the commercial offer of the destination with 31 per cent and available services 26 per cent.

61 per cent of respondents also said that shops in the historic center and shopping streets are their favorite places to shop, followed by shopping centres (49 per cent) and outlets (41 per cent). At the same time, three out of five tourists make purchases at stations and airports.

Moreover, as a result of a survey of 50 stores in Bologna, four out of ten customers are mainly American (25 per cent), German (14 per cent), and French (ten per cent).

Regarding sales to tourists, 81 per cent of the sellers interviewed see favourable prospects for the coming year. In comparison, 60 per cent expect a closure this year that will already show an increase in terms of sales compared to the period before the pandemic.