The Italian travel market continues to grow but at different paces: the hospitality sector's turnover is up 4%, and the transport sector is up 10%, while tour operators and travel agencies are growing by 8% (excluding cruises). In this context, eCommerce now accounts for 56% of the total value of the hospitality market (21 billion out of 37.5 billion overall) and 70% in the transport market (18.4 billion out of 26.3 billion).

These at least are the general trends of a substantially healthy sector that is still benefiting from the post-Covid rebound. So it is perhaps surprising to discover that, contrary to recent years, it is no longer only the online channel that is the main driver. At least as far as the hotel industry is concerned.  “The growth of eCommerce in the hospitality sector now stands at 4%, on the same level as that of the sector as a whole,-  said Eleonora Lorenzini, director of the travel innovation observatory of the Milan Polytechnic, speaking at the presentation of the 2024 report. – On the other hand, there is still double-digit percentage growth in online channels (+12%) in transport, driven in particular by air transport which has benefited from a significant increase in passengers (also at +12%)’. 

As for purchase options and payment methods, the use of flexible fares has increased over the last two years: instalment payments and buy-now-pay-later are in many cases a decision-making lever with 36% of US travellers saying they only buy travel solutions from operators offering these payment methods. “On the other hand, the use of technology for the various stages of a trip is more widespread overseas,- adds the director of the observatory, Filippo Renga. -Generative Ai supports as many as 38% of Americans for inspiration, service searches or itinerary creation, compared to 15% of Italians. And even booking digital channels are more used by US tourists, who also rely more on voice assistants when travelling.” 

Massimiliano Sarti
Journalist

For now it is only a rumour, but the Mandarin Oriental brand may soon be added to Lake Maggiore in the Italian lake region. 

The 5-star should have 90 rooms

Following the former Casta Diva on Lake Como, the group would seem in fact be about to also land on Lake Maggiore. The property is currently still at the planning stage and is Villa Poss, in Biganzolo, acquired by the Viscardi Hotels group owned by the Milanese family of the same name. The plan being to convert it into a 5-star hotel with 90 rooms, for an investment of €40 million.

Viscardi Hotels has some 450 rooms in Milan

Viscardi Hotels is a white label company that currently manages a portfolio of five properties all located in Milan, with a total of around 450 rooms. Mandarin Oriental is already present in Blevio with the Lake Como, as well as in Milan, while the brand's pipeline in Italy includes the Cristallo in Cortina, the Ginestre in Porto Cervo and will the debut in Rome with the Villini Sallustiani.

In 2023, the top 29 Italian hotels generated a combined revenue of €1 billion. This is one of the most significant figures that emerged in the preview of the traditional Luxury Hospitality Report, now in its fifth edition.

The study is a kind of census of luxury properties in Italy, which currently number 710 for a total of 47,335 rooms, with an average total revenue per available room (trevpar) of €611 and operating margins of 24.4% (ebitda margin). In 2023 the average revenue per room was €144,000 per year, which was 15% higher than in 2022.

“This is a healthy sector, which has seen demand and product grow in a steady but balanced way for ten years,” said Giorgio Ribaudo, managing director of Thrends, the company behind the research, speaking at the Luxury Hospitality Conference in Milan, organized by Teamwork. 

Between 2013 and 2023, the compound annual growth rate of demand was, in fact, 3.37%, while the supply was 3.74% (cagr). “These are respectable percentages, since the Covid years are also included in this period. The pace of development is the equivalent of just under thirty new luxury hotels per year, which means more than two openings per month.And the market momentum shows no sign of slowing down with domestic and international demand rising by a further 14% between 2023 and 2022".

Against this backdrop it is not surprising to find that the contribution of luxury hotels to Italy’s hotel turnover is highly substantial. Rooms in the highest segment of the market account for 4.8% of the total, generating 26% of the revenue of Italian hospitality taken as a whole, which last year amounted to around €25.3 billion.

International demand contributes 75% of total sales in the top segment, with the US (28%), German (14%) and UK (9%) markets taking the lion's share. Another highlight from the last four years is the growth in demand from Brazil, Canada and Australia, while China and Japan continue to remain well below pre-Covid levels.

Massimiliano Sarti
Journalist

In the hotel world, regardless of the hotel classification or brand collection, a €1,000 average daily rate has always been considered the true threshold of luxury. It is a veritable empyrean of ultra-exclusive properties, the prerogative of the privileged few, the result of a rare combination of top destinations, prestigious buildings and impeccable service. 

However, the enduring polarization of the market, the shift in consumer preferences away from material goods towards experiential products, and the desire to travel after the pandemic have, boosted the number of HNWIs willing to spend exorbitant sums for an elite stay. A trend of immeasurably greater significance than inflation, that has led many more hotels to exceed the €1,000 average daily rate threshold. Worldwide CoStar data tells us that in the first half of 2019 just 150 hotels could boast an average rate above triple digits. This year they are up to 460

The phenomenon is global, but destinations such as the United States, France and especially Italy are among those that have benefited most. In the USA the number of hotels rose from 22 to 80; in Italy from just under 20 to around 70; in France from around 20 to almost 50. Growth in Europe was driven chiefly by demand from the US and also benefited from the strength of the dollar. All told, in the Old Continent and the Americas, hotels above the $1,000 average daily rate have almost tripled, while in the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East and Africa they have more than doubled.

While the trend is easing somewhat, it does not seem likely to reverse any time soon, given the substantial level of investment being channeled into new top-tier properties. Indeed, the CoStar data may undervalue the phenomenon, as the figures are limited to properties in the US company's database, which does not include small ultra-luxury properties such as lodges in the African savannah, boutique hotels or European country resorts.

Massimiliano Sarti
Journalist

The Arsenale Group has opened the Villa Diodoro Hotel in Taormina.

The new hotel has 102 rooms

The Arsenale Group is the leading company in the Treno della Dolce Vita - Orient Express project, and it has just acquired the Villa Diodoro Hotel in Taormina, for around €40 million. The four-star property has 102 rooms. The company led by Paolo Barletta now intends to renovate the property, with the probable aim of repositioning it in the 5-star segment.

Italy’s first Kimpton will be in Taormina

The hotel was part of the portfolio of the Italian Gais Hotels group, which also owned the property. The first Italian Kimpton, the Grand Hotel Miramare, is also scheduled for Taormina next year. Also in Sicily the Roman company Bzar recently took over the management of the five-star 23-room Hotel Metropole. 

The Jhsf Participações Group, one of Brazil's largest real estate companies, also known for its Fasano luxury hotel brand, recently announced its intention to develop a new property in Sardinia. 

Just 15 minutes from Olbia Airport

Through its asset management company Jhsf Capital, it has acquired a controlling stake in the Italian company Tavolara Bay srl, with the intention of building the Fasano Sardinia near Porto San Paolo, opposite the island of Tavolara, 15 minutes from Olbia airport. 

Sea-view villas for sale

The project includes the construction of a hotel, expected to open in 2028, with some 60 rooms and suites. Sea-view villas for sale will also be built on about 30 plots of land, each on some 200 to 500 square metres. A spa, tennis and paddle courts, a beach club, a marina services for boats, several restaurants, and a small shopping centre will complete the offer.

The Fasano brand is expanding fast 

The investment in Sardinia confirms the Fasano brand's ambition to expand into new internationally renowned destinations. The brand is currently present in New York, Punta del Este (Uruguay) and eight other destinations in Brazil, including Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. In addition to Sardinia, the company is also developing additional hotels in Miami (scheduled to open in 2025) and London (scheduled to open in 2026).

The figure is, of course, provisional and undoubtedly discounts the unhappy momentum of other sectors. And to think that only last October many would have thought it was fake news. Instead, in the first half of this year, assets were the class on which most commercial real estate investments in Italy were concentrated: something less than €1 billion out of a total of just over €3 billion. They were followed by offices, and retail space came in third place. 

So said Domenico Basanisi at the presentation of the latest Cbre study on the Italian real estate market, underlining another important fact about hotel investors: not only has the domestic component of capital regained share, returning to be the majority, but as many as 55% of those who have made acquisitions are owner-operators: "We are coming from two years of large cash flows. And so there are those who have taken advantage of this to buy,- explained Basanisi. -While on the sellers' side, these are generally buyers who maximize pricing, as their motivations often go beyond financial considerations, and are also based on industrial and marketing logics.”

Core capital, on the other hand, is still dormant: 'On paper it is there, it is active, but it has minimal impact. In the first half of 2024 it was around 10%. And the trend is likely to remain the same for the rest of the year. The so-called value-add investors are still the most active part of the market.”  Looking ahead Basanisi predicts a trend towards market polarization, with value-add capital tending to be concentrated on the higher-end properties, while the mid and lower-scale segments will be mainly the domain of owner-operators.

Massimiliano Sarti
Journalist

The Terme di Saturnia resort reopened with new features on 24 July.

The restaurant got a major facelift

The works included a new-look 1919 Restaurant, a new overflow relaxation area at the spring pool, and the Stellata trattoria which overlooks the golf course. For the oldest restaurant in the Maremma area the total restyling of the spaces behind the large thermal pool has resulted in the addition of a veranda overlooking the spring and a totally revised interior design. The new relaxation area, also overlooking the pool, has air-conditioned interiors and is adjacent to the Roman Bath, creating a cozy space for guests to relax between thermal baths and spa treatments.

“We finish our cacio and pepe at the table” 

The restaurant in traditional Maremma style that has reopened retains its cornerstones of traditional Tuscan cuisine, but with completely revised interiors and furnishings. The original farmhouse has been extended with a veranda and a pergola overlooking the 18-hole golf course and Saturnia’s bucolic countryside. But the Stellata's novelties also regard the kitchen with a new open artisan grill for barbecued dishes in the centre of the restaurant. "This way guests can participate in the creation of our dishes- says, Terme di Saturnia’s executive chef Salvatore Quarto.  “We like to finish the preparation of some dishes, like our cacio and pepe right in front of our guests at the table."

It's resort time. Following years during which institutional investors shied away from properties considered excessively volatile and complex for their excessive dependence on seasonality, capital is now eagerly eyeing leisure properties in Italy. To tell the truth, the phenomenon has been gaining traction for some time but Giampiero Schiavo, citing Ey data, explains that in 2023 “transactions for resorts reached as high as 46% of total hotel investments.” Speaking at the Milan Hospitality Forum organized by Scenari Immobiliari in collaboration with Castello sgr, Schiavo who is managing director of the latter, pointed out that Tuscany has attracted 33% of the capital invested in leisure facilities, Lombardy 20%, Sicily 13%, Liguria 10% and Sardinia 6%.

According to the Report on the hotel real estate market by Scenari Immobiliari presented at the Milan event, in general in 2023 the value of transactions in the sector reached €1.4 billion (down from €1.7 billion in 2022). However, the hospitality real estate sector has exhibited robust dynamism, remaining substantially at the historical levels of the last decade, if we exclude the record 2019 and the post-Covid 2020. 

What's more, in 2023 the volume of transactions made by Italian investors - as has happened only rarely in the past - exceeded that of international capital which came mainly from France and the United Kingdom, with about a quarter from non-European countries. The profiles of the main investors are those of family offices, hotel operators and private equity, the first two representing the main component of Italian players.

This is a substantially positive stage,- concluded Mario Breglia, president of Scenari Immobiliari. -However, we cannot overlook the fact that hospitality is worth around $10 trillion globally, equal to almost 10% of the world's GDP. Understandably many would like to get their hands on this slice of the pie, so it is vital to be ready and organize supply in all sectors. In short, we need to create an entire economic system that really understands what it means to network.

Massimiliano Sarti
Journalist