“2023 was an excellent year for advanced booking and this year too the numbers are growing, but we must not make the mistake of not keeping our attention high. Market ups & downs can occur as happened last year.” Talking is Massimo Diana, commercial director of Ota Viaggi, which takes stock of sales trends. In purchasing methods, the customer increasingly appreciates purchasing in advance “of which he perceives the value”, but the needs are directed towards greater flexibility; the holiday period varies from 7 to 14 days over a long period of time. There is no longer the choice of leaving on Saturday and Sunday as there once was, but we opt for the greater convenience of leaving during the week”. The operator’s objective this year is to consolidate the results, counting on a program that has gone from 74 to 95 structures. Meanwhile, Ota Viaggi is slowly opening up to foreign markets, “through commercial relationships with b2b entities”.
Experiential tours
He speaks of a higher booking advance compared to last year Tania Patalano, product manager of Imperatore Travel World: “Certainly since post-Covid we have started booking in advance again, also for reasons of savings. Sicily and Ischia are among the most popular destinations – he comments -. Since the end of 2023, meanwhile, we have focused on group and individual tours in Italy of an experiential nature and these are also offered on the European and American markets”.
Groups and individuals
If the summer mountain is, according to Gabriella Colucci, Campania sales division of TH Group, the surprise of the market from Covid onwards, seen as a refuge destination and now highly sought after, a positive season is announced for the Italian sea with Sardinia and Puglia showing priority for filling, “but Calabria and Elba Island are also doing well ”. The start “was good – claims the manager – from January and continued in February and March. The groups booked in advance and there were few free dates left.”
Integrated packages
For Blue Island the trend of advanced booking on the Italian seaside shows “a +20% compared to last year”, he states Massimiliano Cintorino, commercial director of the operator. “In February and March we recorded 90%, compared to 70% last year. They are selling – continues Cintorino – seasonal queues and low periods, while the central weeks of August have high quotas and sometimes the customer prefers foreign destinations”. There are three exclusive structures on Isola Azzurra in Sicily, which are added to others in full-empty (12 between Puglia, Sicily and Calabria) and another hundred generalist structures. The operator also has 10% of foreign traffic coming mainly from France, Belgium and Germany. The future goal? “It’s to create our own brand. Already today we provide assistance in hotels, entertainment and shows with notable artistic casts,” he comments. Furthermore, like Dmc Sicilia, the Land & Sea brand was created, which is aimed at Northern Italy and abroad and which allows you to combine the stay, flight, transfers and the package also includes three excursions.
Laura Dominici
Tags: Imperatore Travel World, Isola Azzurra, Ota Viaggi, Settimanale_1644, TH Group
Tags: foreigners early sales Mare Italia tos
