Siena and its province, tourism in strong recovery. Presented the data of the Provincial Observatory
Born from a project by Confcommercio Siena, Confesercenti Siena, the Chamber of Commerce and the Monte dei Paschi di Siena Foundation, theTourist Observatory of the province of Siena is able to offer analysis of the dynamics and trends of the tourist chain of the provincial territory
And this morning, the report for the third quarter of 2022 with speeches by Massimo Guasconi, President of the Arezzo-Siena Chamber of Commerce, Carlo Rossi, President of the Monte dei Paschi di Siena Foundation, and Andrea Favaretto, Director of the Centro Studi Sintesi of Mestre, the company in charge of data processing for the ‘Observatory .
On this occasion, a series of dashboards were presented, accessible from the home page of the institutional site of the Arezzo-Siena Chamber of Commerce and from the sites of the associations participating in the project, which display the main indicators and data processed by the provincial Observatory.
“The Provincial Tourist Observatory- comments Massimo Guasconi, President of the Chamber of Commerce – is, thanks to its ability to analyze trends and trends in tourist demand, a very important tool for an economic system, such as the Sienese one, suited to the tourist offer. The Report we are presenting photographs a positive trend: thanks above all to the arrivals and attendance of foreign tourists, we are recovering the levels reached in the pre-covid period even if the repercussions of the pandemic are still felt above all in the entrepreneurial demographics. Added to this are further critical elements that our entrepreneurial system will still be called upon to face in the short term, starting with the high energy costs and consumer price trends”.
“The MPS Foundation’s support for the Tourism Observatory, which is part of the broader “Siena 2030” project, stems from a commitment made in the Foundation’s strategic documents, in full coherence with our vocation of being a place of connection and entity that promotes social relations and also plays the role of proactive partner in favor of innovation. – declares Carlo Rossi, President of the Monte dei Paschi di Siena Foundation – Thanks to the collaboration between our institution, the University of Siena and the Arezzo-Siena Chamber of Commerce, the Observatory on Tourism contributes to enriching the studies on the social and economic dynamics of the territory, providing an accurate picture. The tourism supply chain is confirmed as a relevant asset for our province, providing data that therefore become the basis for reasoning together on which development elements to focus on, paying particular attention to training and quality, with the aim of keeping up with the dynamics that characterize national and international supply and demand.”
And here is a summary of the picture that emerges from the report of the Provincial Tourism Observatory.
In the third quarter of 2022, 797,606 arrivals were recorded with a very slight increase compared to the same quarter of 2021. Presences were 2,500,510, 5.2% more than the previous year. Most of the arrivals and presences recorded in the third quarter of the year can be attributed to movements made mostly by foreigners in non-hotel structures with differences in the month of July. Comparing arrivals and overnights in the 3rd quarter of 2022 with those in the 3rd quarter of 2021, it is possible to detect some dynamics: – a net and absolute increase in all periods of foreign tourists both in hotels and non-hotel facilities; ▪- a decrease in Italian tourists both in hotels and non-hotel facilities throughout the period surveyed, with a greater incidence in the non-hotel sector.
As far as entrepreneurial demographics are concerned, the third quarter of 2022 counted 24,509 active companies based in the province of Siena. Compared to the third quarter of 2019, i.e. before the pandemic, there are 475 fewer, equal to -1.9%. If we compare the most recent data with the same period of 2021, we can see how the contraction trend of the productive fabric is confirmed also in the last year, with a loss of 111 active offices (-0.5%). Even for companies in the tourism chain, so there has not yet been a recovery compared to the same period in the pre-covid era.
The contraction that took place between the 3rd quarter of 2022 and the corresponding one in 2019 is of the same tenor as that observed for the entire productive fabric of the province: -2.0% (for 61 fewer offices).
The change recorded in the last 12 months is still negative: at the end of the third quarter of 2022 there were 38 fewer active companies (-1.2%).
If we want to observe the territorial distribution of the municipal retail production activities, we can resort to the statistics relating to the location of the enterprises (enterprise headquarters plus local units).
At the end of the third quarter of 2022 there were 4,852 locations of activities related to the tourism chain in the province of Siena. In the capital municipality there are 1,119, equal to 23% of the entire province. Followed by San Gimignano, Chianciano Terme and Poggibonsi with – each – just under 7% of the total locations.
Also at the end of the third quarter of 2022, Chianciano Terme was confirmed as the Sienese municipality with the highest concentration of economic activities attributable to the tourism sector: almost 29% of the locations (company headquarters and local units) of the municipality against a provincial average which remains below 15%.
Following are Pienza with one location out of four (almost 26%), San Gimignano under 24%, Castellina in Chianti and San Quirico d’Orcia around 22%.
If we refer to the locations of the production activities, i.e. if we consider both the local units and the company headquarters active in the area, we can count the employees who work in the Sienese tourism supply chain. The data referring to the active locations in the third quarter of 2022 indicate almost 13,900 employees in the active tourism chain in the province of Siena.
They are equal to 15% of the more than 92,400 employees in the localization of companies active overall in the province. More than half (56%) of those involved in the overall activities of the provincial tourist chain are those who belong to bars and restaurants.
31% of employees work in accommodation facilities, while the contribution of other activities in the supply chain is much more limited.
In the Province of Siena there are 92,422 total employees: of these 13,854, 15% are attributable to the tourism sector and almost 30% (over 4,100 units) work in the municipality of Siena. The quotas referring to the other municipalities are more contained. The threshold of 5% of the total number of people involved in the provincial tourism chain is exceeded only by the municipalities of Montepulciano, Chianciano Terme, Poggibonsi and San Gimignano involved
In the summer season, just over 1 out of 2 companies saw their business grow in terms of turnover with 14.5% of businesses reporting growth of more than 50%. The percentage of companies that has seen a contraction is equal to 16% while 30% has detected a stationary trend. These are values in line with the previous quarter.
The summer season appears to have gone well for about 70% of the activities. On the contrary, 27% of businesses believe that the summer quarter went badly. Commercial activities in particular are those that detect a negative opinion.
40% of companies had difficulty finding staff for the 2022 summer season. Of those looking for staff, around 50% managed to find it, albeit with difficulty, while 31% did not find it. The catering and accommodation businesses are those that have felt the greatest need to integrate staff for the season and are at the same time those that have had the most difficulty finding them.
The increase in prices within the framework of its own activity concerned 58% of enterprises. In particular, it is the restaurant businesses that have had to measure prices more following the increase in the cost of raw materials (about 71%).
39.5% of companies do not expect to have repercussions on their business following the increase in prices, while 29% believe that they will not be at risk of closure but will have to settle for a negligible profit margin.
Then there is a 10.5% of activities that foresee a temporary closure in the months between November and January and a further 8.5% that foresee a closure of the entire winter season from November to April. 7.5% of companies are highly at risk of definitive closure in the absence of adequate incentives and aid.
As regards the autumn-winter 2022 season (October-December 2022), 36% do not expect changes in the 2022 autumn season compared to the 2021 season. 31.5% expect an improvement compared to 23% who expect a worsening . The most pessimistic sector is the commercial sector for which more than one company out of three (almost 36%) believes that the autumn-winter season will go badly.