Dear holidays. Everything went up: air and ship fares; hotels and b&b; the restaurants and bars; the tourist tax; a day at the beach, between parking, umbrella and sunbeds; the rental of cars, mopeds and boats; even ticket prices to visit a museum or see a concert. The strong recovery in demand, inflation and energy bills, in this summer which promises to be a record-breaker, will weigh heavily on travellers' spending. And Sardinia is already registering the highest price increases compared to the rest of Italy, about 20% more than last year as regards accommodation, but the increases grow a lot if a flight or a ferry crossing is also taken into account to reach the island and back (the companies have adopted adjustments of up to 50% more). The consequence is that families, couples and singles still do not give up on moving, but certainly those with pre-established budgets will have to reduce their vacation days, once they were even fifteen, now they have dropped between ten and seven on average.
Receptivity
As regards hotels and short-term rentals, the seaside resorts of Sardinia recorded the highest increases among all the regions. Assoutenti certifies a +20.3% in the Olbia-Tempio area, but also the southern coasts offer much more expensive rooms than last year. Discover the tour operator Martino Di Martino from the data of the OTAs (Online Travel Agencies), the most popular booking sites, such as Booking: in August the average rate of all accommodation is 177 euros per night (compared to 153 euros in 2022). Hotels have gone from 159 euros to 186 euros; non-hotel accommodation from 136 to 157 euros.
Transports
Tickets for planes and ships are the real drain on tourists. It is estimated that the increase compared to last year can even reach 50%, and clearly, as far as Sardinia is concerned, the perennial supply deficit affects above all.
For a return flight from Rome to Olbia with Volotea in August, the total price (for non-residents) goes up to 865 euros: it's a record. On the Milan-Cagliari route a tourist, around August 15th, pays 659 euros. For the Rome-Cagliari and Milan-Alghero routes, the cost exceeds 400 euros.
«To come by ship from the end of June to September, a family made up of two adults and two children, with a car in tow, will spend no less than 1,300/1,500 euros; on the other hand, it takes around 2,000 euros by plane», underlines Gian Mario Pileri, president of Fiavet (the Italian federation of travel associations and companies).
All the details in the article by Cristina Cossu on L'Unione Sarda on newsstands