TURIN. Leave the pandemic behind and relaunch tourism. While the government is working on the abolition of the quarantine for those arriving from abroad and seems to have decided not to extend the green pass obligation for hotels after 31 March, Turin is starting to deal with a 2022 that can push it to the top of Italian tourism. A game that is played above all on major events and which begins to bear fruit. As shown by the Airbnb data linked to the Eurovision week (10-14 May), an event that will drive the Book Fair and the Economy Festival and finally the ATP Finals in November. “Turin has everything it takes to establish itself as a new trendy destination in Europe,” says Giacomo Trovat, head of Airbnb Italy.
According to the short-term rental platform, Turin’s popularity as a travel destination for 2022 is set to far exceed the numbers of 2019, when the capital reached its peak. Already on 8 October, when it was announced that the city would host the most important European musical event, Turin recorded the highest number of bookings: in just one day, guests from 39 countries booked a trip to the city. And in the last three months of 2021, about 70% of searches for trips to Turin with check-in between 10 and 14 May 2022 came from one of the countries participating in the festival: the most passionate Spanish, German and French.
Eurovision: the charge of 12 thousand aspiring volunteers, the selections at the Palasport in Turin are underway
“Events of this kind can be a driving force for the resumption of tourism in addition to the summer season, which is already promising,” explains Trov. “At the end of January 2022 we had over 25% more nights booked for the summer than in 2019”. Also because the announcement effect does not only concern the Eurovision dates (which grew in October by about 200 times compared to September), but the whole of 2022: from 1 October to 31 December 2021, in fact, the searches for accommodation on Airbnb in Turin, arriving during the year, increased by 45%, compared to the same period in 2019.
Eurovision: the charge of 12 thousand aspiring volunteers, the selections at the Palasport in Turin are underway
A trend that helps the manager to relaunch the alliance between the traditional hospitality of hotels and that of the platforms: “It is the ideal recipe to help cities to relieve pressure on the occasion of major events”. With the advantage of extending the activities also to less touristy and less involved districts. –