Tourism forecast 2021 Italy: what the next tourist season will be like for the world of short-term rentals

The question to which all operators in the travel sector and not only seek an answer in this period is: "What will the next tourist season be like?".

The summer that is just around the corner will be the second in the Covid-19 era, and to make any estimates in this regard, it is necessary to start from what happened in the aftermath of last year's lockdown.

Francesco Zorgno, President of CleanBnB, answered questions from Milano Finanza about the forthcoming restart of tourism in Italy, making a concrete forecast on the development scenarios and on the stability of the short-term rental sector.

In 2020, in the aftermath of the closure of almost every commercial activity following unprecedented containment measures in our country, the apartment tourism sector saw a substantial recovery.

There was certainly a decline in revenues which was around 30-32%, but the sector was able to enjoy a second half of strong growth with an excellent summer peak.

Despite the fact that in the space of a few months tourism has changed significantly, vacations in an apartment in Italy have been considered by travelers as the solution best able to ensure privacy and health protection.

A way of stay by its nature flexible and also able to intercept the new needs of travelers and the more pressing need for safety.

Stays in Airbnb, generally lasting less than a week, have thus lengthened, intercepting the need for greater stability and longer stops in the chosen locations.

CleanBnB has thus become a management company for both short and medium-term rentals.

Everything that has happened since the second half of 2020 can make us understand the scope of the phenomenon of tourism in the apartment in the next summer season and throughout 2021.

According to Francesco Zorgno, it is not a question of making more or less optimistic forecasts, but of analyzing a tourist phenomenon that has already had to deal with the health emergency and which today has more means available to make tourism and epidemic containment coexist.

The recovery of tourism is directly proportional to the weakening of the risk of contagion, which is based on the following determining factors:

• The so-called Italy of colors which makes it possible to immediately circumscribe the areas of greatest risk and to keep the borders and commercial activities of those with the lowest RT open;
• The diffusion of swabs and molecular tests which allow you to return to travel in total safety, with a test carried out in the 48 hours before entering Italy, and which will also allow a return of foreign tourism;
• Vaccinations which continue at a good pace throughout the boot, and which have already seen the administration of over 15 million doses;
• The arrival of warm weather and open air life, which, as happened last summer, will hinder the circulation of the virus.

What to expect from apartment tourism in 2021?

The stock exchange listing of Airbnb, the leading short-term rental platform has been a huge success. The share price jumped 120%, to a company worth more than $100 billion, Zorgno noted.

There is no doubt that industry experts have estimated that the short-term rental sector will not be affected by the effects of the pandemic for a long time yet and will indeed derive a substantial long-term benefit from the new way to travel.

Long-range holidays to exotic destinations will give way to proximity tourism for a while yet, to the rediscovery of the Belpaese, of small tourist-oriented realities and uncontaminated villages. Without forgetting the tourism of the large centers which will see progressive growth.

And it is in this perspective that CleanBnB has been able to adapt to the needs of a new tourism, contemplating other destinations and expanding their range of destinations, with stable presence of their city managers in over 60 Italian locations.

Sustainability is for Francesco Zorgno the key to restarting.

“Just as the Italians have been able to find new inspiration to travel again, it is up to us tourism operators to prepare the business for the new needs. It is a question of responsibility towards those who travel and towards those who invest in the short and medium-term rental sector".

The trend highlighted last summer of spending proximity holidays will certainly repeat itself during the next season, as will the preference for stays in selected apartments equipped with high standards.

Among the major needs of travelers looking for accommodation to rent, a recent survey by Sole24Ore includes social distancing and cleanliness. The most requested services include Wi-Fi (35%), air conditioning (31%) and a restaurant service (26%).

A higher attention towards professionally managed properties equipped with high standards, therefore, already tempered by the lower availability of accommodation for tourist use and by the substantially equal profitability compared to the pre-pandemic period.

More than forecasts for Italy 2021 tourism, CleanBnB is making concrete analyzes, starting from the performance of the stock on the stock exchange which has regained positions reaching around 1,25 Euros and which Francesco Zorgno expects will still improve if the company is able to take full advantage of the recovery and will act as an aggregation pole for other operators in the sector.