Tourism in the low season: seasonal adjustment as a growth strategy for the entire sector and the country's economy

In a country that wants and must restart, tourism cannot be considered a seasonal phenomenon.

The decision to plan holidays in July and August is certainly dictated by needs which are most often logistical-organisational.

Company holidays and school holidays require families to concentrate their holidays during the summer, but there are other forms of tourism besides those of the warm months that can be encouraged.

Seasonality therefore represents a problem not only for seaside tourist destinations, obviously more subject to climatic conditions, but for the national economy which could draw great sap from the expansion of the time range and from the different distribution of the flow of travellers.

The seasonal adjustment of tourism is therefore to be considered strategic and fundamental for the recovery of a sector that has been affected by a long period of stalemate but also for the entire national economy.

In 2019, in fact, the year before the start of the pandemic, the contribution of the tourism sector to the GDP was 13,2%.

Think, then, of those who work in the tourism sector, not surprisingly referred to as "seasonal", linked to short-term contractual forms of work precisely because they are based exclusively on high season tourism.

Off-season tourism opportunities

Considerable opportunity for seasonal adjustment has come in the years leading up to the pandemic since city ​​break tourism, or from short stays in cities of art or in leisure places for periods from 1 to 4 days.

Short breaks to fit into the weekly routine that have the advantage of extending the relaxation of a weekend.
This type of short vacation has been facilitated by low cost flights, which have made it possible to reduce costs and distances, and since tourism boom in the apartment, which facilitated reservations and arrangements for staying.

Also big events, le agreement, le international and sports happenings they represent an attractor of seasonally adjusted tourism.

A tourism that today undoubtedly needs to be reintercepted, encouraged and effectively organised.

The current management of major events certainly needs to be rethought, but they remain key appointments for the growth and socio-cultural and economic promotion of the country.

The Olympics, expos, the football world cup, European capitals of culture, but also international fairs or cultural festivals involve and facilitate the development of the local economic fabric.

A current report by World Capital has compiled a ranking of tourist countries and their level of seasonal adjustment.

Although the study has the limitation of referring only to the occupancy levels of traditional accommodation, and does not take into account the radical change in the tourist accommodation offer, it allows us to formulate some interesting considerations on the need to de-seasonalize Italian tourism.

According to the report, it is Malta to position first for low season tourist flow (76% occupancy), followed by Spain (63,7%) and France (60,8%).

Italy (42,9%) appears sixth in the standings, despite the favorable climate in both autumn and spring which should favor the continuation of the flows.

For CleanBnB, although this is a partial analysis, therefore not integrated by the number of short-term rental stays which in the post-pandemic period represented the preferred alternative by those who felt the need for privacy and distancing more, the data should be looked at an optimistic perspective, because it highlights the wide margin for improvement to which the country is destined, if assisted by synergistic actions involving all the parties involved.

Short-term rentals can only benefit from initiatives aimed at supporting more sustainable tourism, which identifies and encourages new times but also new places and ways of carrying out one's holidaybut they will also be able to boost the country's tourism sector and economy.

The pathos of travellers, more favorable after the pandemic to seek intimate locations for their stays, also avoiding the overcrowding of the high season, leads us to believe that Italy can climb several positions and become a country capable of exploiting all its potential.

On the other hand, summer 2021 recorded brilliant results for the whole sector and CleanBnB obtained the best July and August ever, totaling a number and total value of bookings substantially double compared to both the final numbers in July and August 2020, both to the pre-covid data of July and August 2019.

Therefore, for the short-term rental sector, which is by its nature inclined to intercept low-season travelers (think of those who travel for work or study or those looking for homes adjacent to places of care to provide assistance to fragile subjects ), a further driving force towards new and more sustainable travel habits would consolidate the great post-Covid recovery recorded in recent months.