What has just passed has been a very positive season for villa holidays, as shown by a report by the Emma Villas Observatory, the Italian leader in the “vacation rental” sector (ie short-term rentals of prestigious villas and estates with private swimming pools). The study was carried out by analyzing the bookings of the over 430 properties managed exclusively between prestigious villas and estates in our country and the approximately 30,000 Italian and international customers hosted during the season.
From the Observatory data recorded in mid-September it emerges that in 2021 there were 3,370 bookings (corresponding to 4,553 weeks of stay) of those who chose the villa for holidays or moments of relaxation. A figure that not only exceeds the previous year by 55% when, in the same period, 2,169 bookings were recorded, but also exceeds 2019 by 6.5%: during the year preceding the arrival of the pandemic, reservations were in fact 3,164 for a total of 4,193 weeks.
But what were the most popular destinations according to Emma Villas data? Which are the “queen” regions of the summer and of the year? In first place, with 2,300 weeks booked and with an occupancy index of 81% in high season for its 214 villas, we find Tuscany, followed by Umbria, which saw the 84 prestigious villas in its borders be booked for 746 weeks, with a high season occupancy of 79%. In third place, in terms of number of weeks booked (286), the Marche, with an occupancy of the structures that reached 88% in high season. But if we look only at the percentage of the booked out of the available in high season – whose national average is 79% – we discover that there are those who have performed even better: this is the case of the villas in Abruzzo, 100% occupied during the ‘summer.