Honeymoons: Sweet profits for Italy travel and tourism

ITALY (eTN) – From weddings of Italian citizens to weddings of international visitors, a honeymoon in Italy is one of the most courted by organized tourism entities as well as tour operators and trave

ITALY (eTN) – From weddings of Italian citizens to weddings of international visitors, a honeymoon in Italy is one of the most courted by organized tourism entities as well as tour operators and travel agents. It is a segment where great profit margins and creativity in setting rate offers allow the travel and tourism chain to enjoy high revenue.

Italy can count on an average of about 153,000 marriages of country citizens per year, which in 75% of cases, results in honeymoons as well. Assuming an average cost per person of about 6,000 euro, the turnover amounts to nearly 900 million euro per year, with a margin of between 3-7%. The trends of recent years, among other things, clearly indicate a strong propensity to package tours – stays of relaxation and fun with an average duration of not less than 12 days.

It is a very different story for marriages of international visitors to Italy. On this front, the slice of the wedding cake profits is even more substantial. In the last period, almost 230,000 foreigners (115,000 pairs) per year arrived in Italy to celebrate their weddings and spend their honeymoons. This is a phenomenon that affects in 80% of the cases, top destinations like Venice, Florence, Rome, the lakes of northern Italy, and the Amalfi coast.


The average cost incurred by foreigners throughout the organization of the wedding is about 50,000 euro per couple, with a total turnover of nearly 5.5 billion euro.

Much of the turnover – it is worth pointing out – is generated by foreign travel agencies, but all hospitality-tourism services that complete the “wedding package” fall on the Italian travel industry for a turnover of not less than 320 million euro.

For this reason, events are often organized with single-topic workshops and negotiations between foreign and Italian sellers and buyers, including many wedding planning companies.

The most profitable traffic areas for incoming Italian weddings are represented by the United Kingdom (16%), United States (12%), Russia (9%), Japan (8%), Canada (7%), and Saudi Arabia (6%). This is more than legitimate as the definition of “global business” that analysts use in the honeymoon segment.

In recent years, there has been a boom of new professional figures that revolve around the event-wedding โ€“the wedding planner and fashion consultant, the photographer and video-maker, make-up artists and hair dressers; and even a consultant for the paperwork. This specialization has recently led to a group of professionals who create the structure for a wedding scenario to offer the bride and groom, whether the event is themed or traditional, civil or religious, and includes the honeymoon trip โ€“ all inclusive, of course.



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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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