Campsite owners face daily challenges such as rising energy costs and external interference, such as the increase in the price of ferries in Sardinia. But the data on the summer season of campsites and villages are positive, with a 3% growth in arrivals and presences compared to the previous year. We talked about it with the president of Faita Federcamping Alberto Granzotto, interviewed by Mondo Camping to talk about the federation’s commitment to making the Open Air sector more inclusive and sustainable and its work on quality and innovation, including a census of companies and the use of digital technology. These projects will be presented at trade fairs such as the TTG in Rimini and Hospitality in Riva del Garda.
President Granzotto, can we already make an initial assessment of the 2023 summer season for Italian campsites and villages?
We made an estimate at the end of August according to which the current season improves on the results of the last one, albeit to a limited extent. In approximate terms we can estimate a growth of around 3% in arrivals and in the same order of magnitude as attendance. If this advance processing of the data is confirmed, and with the addition of the data relating to the months of September and October, the Open Air sector will approach 70,000,000 attendances and 11,000,000 million arrivals for the year 2023 . From an initial collection of data coming from the individual regional Associations, Open Air demand has almost increased in all regions, certainly the climatic instability of the month of June has slowed down the start of the season, but there is a very strong final sprint in September and October, which, so to speak, will be the classic icing on the cake of an excellent and prolonged season.
What feedback have you received from Italian campsite owners in these months of intense work?
For some years we have been operating in often unstable and unpredictable contexts. Adverse climatic elements, rapid upward fluctuations in energy and raw material costs, influences of monetary policies, geo-political instabilities. All this certainly does not make company management easier, nor does it facilitate the economic and financial planning of companies, fortunately the sector is holding up well, and this, if nothing else, instills confidence and enthusiasm in us operators. Of course, sometimes we are involved in external interference that negatively affects seasonal trends, as in the specific case of Sardinia, where the reckless increase in ferries has certainly not favored the destination, especially for our type of tourists who often see the use of their means of overnight stay such as campers and caravans, and for which the cost of boarding has a significant impact on boarding rates, paradoxically exceeding the cost of the stay at the accommodation facility.
But as I was telling you, the operators were very satisfied with the response of supply to demand, this tells us that we are on the right path.
Prices have also increased at the campsite. Are we facing a temporary phase or a trend that will become systemic?
Unfortunately, some elements previously mentioned cannot fail to influence the determination of the price of a stay. Consider that Open Air companies are on average accommodation facilities of 4 hectares, even reaching over 70, imagine what volumes of energy they require or what type of maintenance these types of activities require. Furthermore, even for complementary services, the entire product chain has suffered increases which in part had to be compensated for in the tariffs.
However, there is a clarification to be made, any increases applied have never seen percentages higher than the current inflation rate, furthermore, in almost all cases, they have been paid for by an enrichment of the services provided in terms of number and quality.
In any case, the specificity of our sector certainly allows widespread accessibility to holidays and the use of free time. Precisely due to the modularity of the living room, which can also be used with smarter mobile means of overnight stay, such as tents, for example, to arrive at more refined and experiential forms of glamping typology, passing through campers and caravans, open-air tourism is certainly an accessible, modular and flexible holiday.
To conclude therefore, I do not think that the upward trend will become endemic, also because there is a strong awareness of the market parameters not to be exceeded, not only for economic and marketing issues, but also for ethical and social reasons.
Outdoor tourism is increasingly appreciated by holidaymakers. How can we exploit this wave so that it doesn’t remain a passing fad?
For some years now, Open Air has been appreciated for what it really is. Not a mediocre type of tourism, but a new holiday philosophy, where the guest is at the centre.
In past years the choice of a camping holiday was mainly dictated by elements of an economic nature, today the towed element is certainly oriented by emotion, the holiday in the open air is experienced as an experiential and regenerative moment, where every element becomes emotion: the environment, accommodation, food, play and recreational activities.
However, it is necessary to be able to capitalize on this new market orientation, to be able to respond to the new needs of guests, often operating in a predictive manner, almost anticipating requests or needs.
The Open Air operator must know how to combine the pragmatism of the entrepreneur with the imagination of the dreamer; he must be able to imagine his company as a place totally immersed in the naturalistic context in which he operates, enhancing the traditions and specific characteristics of the territories.
To do this it is necessary to inform ourselves, study and continuously update ourselves. This is why for some years the Federation has undertaken a path of collaboration with the academic world, for example with the CISET – International Center for Studies on the Tourism Economy of the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice for the annual economic survey report of the open air tourism sector, or with the MET – Master of Tourism Economics and Management of the Bocconi University of Milan, for a survey on the demand for Open Air tourism.
In which activities will Faita be involved in over the next few months?
Accessibility, Sustainability, Quality and Innovation will be the four fundamental pillars of the Federation’s next activities.
On the subject of Accessibility, the Federation will be engaged in an awareness and training process, already undertaken a few years ago, to make the Open Air sector increasingly inclusive. In the coming months we will present the results of an experimental project, in collaboration with Village for all V4A®, Legambiente and IMQeAmbiente, for the application of the SDG’S to open-air tourist accommodation facilities, useful for identifying KPIs that will constitute the prominent elements of a specific quality brand for open-air accommodation facilities, also based on elements linked to sustainability and accessibility.
Furthermore, on the subject of sustainability, a first phase of a project has just been concluded, in collaboration with IMQeAmbiente, to enhance open-air tourist accommodation facilities which will guarantee the implementation and maintenance of good sustainability practices, to respond to the objectives set by the 2030 Agenda, also through the creation of a Faita Federcamping GUIDING MANIFESTO, and with the drafting of financial statements certified according to ESG parameters.
With reference to Quality and Innovation, we started by getting to know each other better. Through the first quantitative and qualitative census of Open Air companies, launched in 2022 and in the process of continuous evolution and implementation, the Federation is detecting the structural characteristics of the companies in order to proceed with the necessary redevelopment or updating activities of the services provided .
The Federation is also working on technological aspects; the Open Air Hub project, as integrated software to optimize the digital communication of open-air tourism-accommodation businesses, and the presence on the working tables at the Ministry of Tourism as part of the Tourism Digital Hub (TDH), are part of it.
All this and much more will be presented by the Federation at upcoming trade fair events such as the TTG in Rimini and Hospitality in Riva del Garda.
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