One step away from the longed-for holidays, Italians are starting to deal with the high prices that weigh both in Italy and abroad and also with the complicated geopolitical situation. The alarm was raised by theUdicon (Consumer Defense Union) which thanks to a study carried out with thePiepoli Instituteidentifies the most painful notes: plane tickets but also beach establishments.
In particular, in view of the summer, one in two Italians declares that they will not go on holiday. The majority of travelers have already booked, but 43% will wait for a last minute in the hope of saving money (especially young and “older” people). 27% of those who will not travel by plane will not do so due to fear due to the international context (in fact, two out of three Italians say they feel safer in Italy than abroad), 24% due to prices and 17 % for the cost of living. Furthermore, the free beach will be the choice of one Italian in three: half of the latter will choose this way for economic convenience.
In any case, an Italian holiday is still widely perceived as less expensive than one abroad.
“The results of our investigation – he explains Martina Donini, national president of Udicon – sound like a wake-up call for consumers. Many, due to economic difficulties, will be forced to give up their holidays or – given the costs of airline tickets – to remain in Italy, giving up traveling abroad or choosing simpler and more economically advantageous services. This situation greatly reduces the free choice of citizens, who find themselves faced with an uncertain economic context and with continuously increasing prices.”
Another significant theme highlighted by the survey is the growing fear of flying among a large segment of the population: “New fears, linked above all to the worrying global geopolitical situation and the conflicts taking place at the gates of our continent, in Ukraine as in Middle East”, underlines Donini. “These results confirm the need to keep Italians’ spending capacity under control and implement adequate support measures. Italians need effective policies to face the increase in prices and guarantee themselves a period of rest and serenity”, he concludes
