Tuscany is heading for a historical record in 2024, surpassing the 52 million overnight stays of 2019.
North Americans increasingly choose Tuscany
Last year the region came close to matching the numbers registered in that pre-pandemic boom year, although the Report on tourism in Tuscany presented by IRPET in Florence shows that the last five years did not always excel due to Covid, wars and changes in travel patterns. The numbers for 2023 - which is the first “normal” post-pandemic year - show a 3.5% increase in foreign tourist overnights compared to 2019. But to the +9% of Europeans we find a -6.2% of non-EU visitors. The reason being that while North Americans increasingly choose Tuscany, the Russian market has disappeared and the East Asian market has shrunk.
The market is susceptible to fashions and shifts in behaviour
Moreover, while the first five months of 2024 recorded a +3.1% increase over the previous year, we are now witnessing extreme recent trends: with overnights by North Americans at +7.4% compared to 2023 and +20.2% compared to 2019, and with Europeans skyrocketing to +10.4% and +31.5%. But without East Asia (a drop of 63% of Chinese visitors compared to five years ago) there is a major reduction in the areas of origin, making the market more susceptible to fashions and shifts in behaviour.
Domestic demand has slowed down
Another far from comforting phenomenon that has emerged over the last two years is the contraction of the domestic market. Compared to last year, due to the “increase in the cost of living and inflation,” the number of Italians from other regions has fallen by 8.9% and those from Tuscany by 12.8%. IRPET refers to mixed results: “the recovery is there, driven by the further internationalization of the Tuscan tourism system, but it is sluggish due to the slowing down of internal demand and to greater exposure to competition from new destinations as well as to global macroeconomic and geopolitical dynamics.”
The art cities still lag behind the pre-Covid years
As for destinations, last year Florence was still 18.3% down on 2019 (in this case due to the decline of large Asian groups,) while Livorno (+36.7%, thanks to new cruises), and the Amiata (+33.1%) and Valdichiana Aretina areas (+30.1%) marked their highest spike in four years. And the Lunigiana, in the first months of 2024, set a new record for growth over the pre-pandemic years with +120%. Between 2023 and 2024 there was growth in seaside areas (+3.1%) and in the mountains (+1.9%,), while hill country tourism dropped by 2.2%. The great art cities are still lagging behind the pre-Covid years - partly because they started their comeback later – but nevertheless they are showing a +5.2% increase.
