The wedding tourism business exceeds the pre-pandemic value
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Wedding tourism or wedding tourism is recovering and in 2022 it recorded a turnover of 599 million, 11% more than in 2019, the last year of normality before the pandemic. Last year, 11,000 foreign couples chose to organize the ceremony or a symbolic rite in Italy, while the trend in requests for the current year suggests another record year with the addition of over a thousand more events than in 2022 These are the data emerging from the Destination Weddings in Italy Observatory, conducted by the Centro Studi Turistici and financed by the Ministry of Tourism, presented in Rome by Enit and
Convention Bureau Italy. Based on the length of stay of couples and guests
to the ceremony (3.3 nights on average), for 2022 the Observatory estimates that 619,000
arrivals and over 2 million tourist presences connected to the destination
wedding.
The choices for the ceremonies
The region on the highest step of the podium is Tuscany which, thanks to its heritage of scenic and artistic beauties and its history, confirms itself as the most popular region for foreign couples. One out of five chooses it. Followed by Lombardy, Campania, Puglia, Sicily and Lazio. Couples are mainly from the United States (29%) but the majority (57%) are from Europe. «The main reason that induces a couple to choose to get married abroad is often given by a special bond with a destination, to the point of choosing it as the perfect place for their wedding. An alternative way to experience the destination» explains Maria Elena Rossi, Enit marketing director. There are also internal flows of Italian couples, over 7,160, who choose a region other than that of residence for the ceremony. For the ceremony, lunch and celebrations, the path of sustainability and greenery is increasingly chosen with a growing awareness of the environment, tradition and local products.
A network to be strengthened
«The wedding industry has a significant impact on the tourism sector supply chain, expanding the choice opportunities for a trip to Italy as well as the notoriety of the Italy brand image. We need to be ready and strengthen the network with dedicated all-inclusive packages» comments Ivana Jelinic, CEO of Enit while Carlotta Ferrari, president of Convention Bureau Italia adds: «The recovery of destination weddings has been recorded in all Italian regions, thanks to the strong desire search for unique scenarios such as those in Tuscany, unusual places such as the trulli and local typicality such as the farms». A territory that is the backdrop for dream ceremonies such as those of the rich Indians who choose Southern Italy, especially Puglia, for ceremonies of a thousand and one nights. «However, the effects of the pandemic are visible in the modification of some trends in demand – begins Alessandro Tortelli, director of Cst Firenze – starting with greater attention to the budget especially by foreign couples looking more and more for typicality and unique places». Foreign couples who choose the Belpaese continue a long tradition that has its roots in the post-war period «when the travelers who chose Italy to get married were the Americans – recalls Sandro Pappalardo, board member of Enit -. An always demanding target that connotes Italy not only as the cradle of culture but also of feelings».
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