A summer that went very well is not enough to secure the accounts of the accommodation facilities crushed by management costs out of control due to expensive energy and inflation. Thus half of the businesses are in trouble and 40% of businesses expect to close their 2022 accounts in red. This is what the Chambers of Commerce Observatory on Tourism Economics reveals, elaborated by Isnart-Unioncamere presented at the Ttg Tavel Experience in Rimini. The data show very good room occupancy rates with, on average, 51.5% in June, 72.6% in July and 78.8% in August, with a sustained trend even compared to 2019 values. 64.2% of tourists were Italian and 35.8% international, with arrivals from abroad in clear recovery compared to last year. Despite these figures, which are higher than those of recent years, the increase in costs is such that it puts 1 in 2 companies in difficulty, and in these months 1 in 3 plans to raise prices. Another gap that entrepreneurs in the sector have been facing in recent years should not be overlooked: that of the lack of seasonal staff. A problem particularly felt in hotel structures, almost two out of three, and by 14% of non-hotel ones. Tourism accounted for a quarter of all new jobs before Covid-19. In the most acute period of the pandemic, travel workers moved to other sectors of the economy and the decline in employment mainly affected young people and women. Furthermore, the difficulty of finding the right figures has become a structural factor. The Excelsior information system of Unioncamere and Anpal estimates about 2 million difficult hires for 2022, of which 400 thousand for professionals in the tourism sector, mainly due to the lack of candidates in 25% of cases (+ 9% on 2019), while in 10% of cases there is a misalignment with respect to the required skills. According to Randstad, the need to support the reconversion and updating of skills to increase the critical mass of opportunities for qualified human resources and to respond to the needs of companies also by anticipating the demand for new profiles. Among the most requested new professional figures: energy manager, social media manager, data analyst, digital marketing manager and digital management experts for products and tourist destinations.
