There were 35 million departures that the compatriots planned just a month ago: 10 million for the “long weekend” of the Immaculate Conception, 12 for Christmas and 13 for the New Year.
Today – fifteen days from the first event and 30 from Christmas – 11 million of these bookings are still missing, while cancellations arrived on bookings made amount to 2.5 million.
The figure emerges from the survey on the propensity of Italians to travel, conducted, between 15 and 19 November, by Confturismo-Confcommercio in collaboration with Swg.
“It is the ‘freezer’ effect that the news on the increase in Covid infections, spread daily, exert on a winter season that was supposed to definitively close the crisis, and instead promises to be still very uncertain”, underlines Confturismo-Confcommercio.
Another 8.5 million cases are added in which, according to the Confturismo-Confcommercio survey, the interviewees declare that they have changed their holiday destination, choosing a closer one, or have reduced the days of vacation, which were already on average largely below the corresponding figure for 2019. A ‘hard core’ of 35.5% – more than 12 million – still resists, made up of those who, in any case, do not change their minds for any of the planned holiday periods, and declare that they will leave anyway.
However, in half of the cases, these are holidays with family members or friends, whose impact of spending on real tourist services is in any case reduced compared to the average. «Uncertainty prevails, not fear – underlines the president of Confturismo-Confcommercio Luca Patané – and for this we need clear and immediate indications from the competent Authorities on any rules to be adopted to face the upcoming holidays in safety; especially for the vaccinated people, the most inclined and ready to leave ».
Black friday of November 26 at risk
And also Black Friday on November 26th is imagined with more shadows than lights for shops and commercial activities, or in any case in a lesser tone. Mauro Bussoni, Secretary General of Confesercenti: «There have already been promotions in various capacities for a month. We are in the presence of promotional activities that only shift attention from consumption made in physical stores to online, the latter channel that has the possibility of advertising and promoting in a different way ».
Forecast for Black Friday at the door, that of November 26? «We are still carrying out our checks but at the moment we know that 500 million euros of expenses for Christmas gifts have already been made using the promotions that have taken place in recent days. And then we have the impression that adhering to this formula imported from abroad on Black Friday sees physical and on-the-road shops adhere less than in previous years, those of the pre Covid era “.
“The Black Friday at the end of November 2019, before the outbreak of the pandemic – recalls Confesercenti – had recorded a total expenditure of 1.7 billion euros, of which around 470 million euros in neighborhood shops”.