Marriott: Italians plan more vacation spending in the next 3 years

Despite economic hardship and reduced purchasing power of families, Italians are not ready to give up entertainment, comfort and relaxation during vacations. The Future Travel Trends 2024 study, conducted by Marriott Bonvoy in conjunction with forecasting agency The Future Laboratory, has revealed that Italians are ready to increase their travel spending in the next three years.

A total of 14,000 European and Middle Eastern travelers participated in the study, including 2,000 Italians whose intentions were surveyed by Opinium agency. And it was Italians who expressed a desire to increase spending on travel. 86% of those surveyed said they intend to take a vacation in the next three years, and half of them plan to spend more money than usual. 14% are even thinking of spending "much more than usual".

This attitude is certainly pleasing to the hospitality and tourism sector. However, spending more doesn't mean spending indiscriminately: Italian tourists will be careful to optimize their spending, and 32% of them are considering spending their vacations in Italy.

Hotels should emphasize sustainability if they want to attract the maximum number of tourists: two-thirds of Italians are willing to spend more to have an eco-friendly vacation. But how much more? Up to 10% of the previous amount. A part of them (24%) check the issue of sustainability before booking, just as another part (24%) does it later.

And finally, it is necessary to mention the online booking of Italian tourists: the Marriott study showed that the role of artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly important, one in five travelers used AI to plan a vacation or search for a destination, this figure is higher for young people between 18 and 24 years old. Almost all tourists using artificial intelligence admitted that it had somehow influenced their choices.