Italian rush to Christmas markets – tirol.ORF.at
lifestyle
The Innsbruck merchants’ assessment of the city’s Christmas markets is very positive this Advent. Guests from Italy in particular are very strongly represented again. Almost every fifth visitor comes from Italy.
It’s an Advent like before the pandemic, confirm the Innsbruck merchants. For the first time there is a lot of activity between and in front of the stands with thousands of visitors from abroad.
December is Italian month
The Italian guests in particular make up a large proportion on the weekends before Christmas, explained Michael Perger, chairman of the Innsbruck Center Association. Almost 20 percent – almost every fifth customer – comes from Italy: “In December, the proportion of Italian guests is very high, especially on December 8th. The Advent market runs until the end of December/mid-January. The Italians are coming very compactly and in a very short time.”
High turnover
The pre-Christmas period is considered to be the time of the year with the highest turnover. The expenses of the guests from the southern neighboring country would make up a large part of the income, according to Perger: “As the organizers, we had studies done. The gross added value of all Innsbruck Christmas markets is around 85 million euros. And if you add the Italian guests to that, then you can say that around 16, 17, 18 million euros come from the Italian guests.”
Regional handicrafts are particularly popular with Italian tourists. The Italians love Tyrolean slippers or fur fabrics, but also culinary Tyrolean specialties such as Kiachl or bacon. With the overall high frequency at the Innsbruck Christmas markets, the level of 2019 – i.e. before the pandemic – was quickly reached again.