After a 2020 in which the closure of the borders, the strong mobility restrictions and the prohibition of gatherings have affected the tourism sector at a global level, in 2021 in Italy the e-commerce of the Tourism sector has started to grow again, reaching 10.8 billion euros (+ 51% compared to last year). However, the gap with the pre-pandemic period, when the sector was worth € 16.3 billion, still remains very wide.
These are some of the evidences presented at TTG Travel Experience in the annual event in which the Digital Innovation in Tourism Observatory of the School of Management of the Politecnico di Milano presents the first results of the research aimed at outlining the digital value of the travel industry and trends of innovation in the offer of tourist services.
In 2021 the transport market as a whole (ecommerce and offline) reaches 8.3 billion euros (+ 30% on 2020) but is still worth less than mid-2019 (18.4 billion), with a net decrease of - 55%. The sector's recovery, albeit partial, is mainly driven by ecommerce transactions, which now represent 62% of the total transport market (compared to 57% in 2020 and 56% in 2019). In the online channel, operators recorded a stable mix between direct and indirect booking tools, with the former dominating the sector (83%).
The overall market of the hospitality sector in 2021 reaches 9.1 billion euros (+ 66%), approaching the values of 2019: after the collapse of 2020, "only" 11 percentage points remain from those of two years ago (10,3 billion). In this sector, the weight of ecommerce has grown substantially, which today has become the leading channel with 55% of incidence (compared to 45% in 2019).
In the online channel it is above all direct transactions that continue to gain importance in the mix: from 23% in 2019, 2021 recorded an increase of as much as 24 percentage points, which today brings them to represent almost half (47%) of the entire sector. The growth of online is mainly driven by the private hospitality sector, which reaches a value of 3.2 billion euros in 2021 compared to 1.9 billion euros for the hotel industry.
The turnover of organized tourism (tour operators and cruises) continues to be in great pain: compared to the pre-pandemic year, the decline is still -66% in 2021. Even for travel agencies, the proceeds remain strong decrease with a -72% compared to 2019, compared to a decrease in personnel which stopped at -21%. The numbers therefore give a snapshot of an evolving sector, in which the PNRR can favor a decisive increase in competitiveness.
