Italian B&B Report 2007 - B&B guests

The last part of the survey submitted by www.bed-and-breakfast.it provides us a profile of the guest.

An outstanding fact is the average age of the client. More than 75% of the guests belong to the 25 to 40 years old range. This result matches all those people using Internet as a natural and common tool, mainly to perform some choices that are very close to their wishes. But this is not enough. This age range expresses reasons to travel with an important point of reference in B&Bs, not only of financial nature. The B&B philosophy makes this travel and stay solution so tempting. Cities of artistic interest, great metropolitan areas and places of nature interest, like the see, mountains are all enjoyed in completely different way if you give that temporary stay a more homely fashion.

People choosing a B&B for the first time comes back, ant they are liking to consider B&Bs the natural solution for every future travel. The next percentage is proportionately lower on the second age range provided to the interviewee: 24% of the guests belong to the 41 to 55 years old range, not even 1% of the guests is older than 56 years.

COUPLES, FAMILIES, AND SINGLES TOO

Couples are 85% of the guests, 10% are families, 4% are groups and 1% of the guests are alone. This data underlines that the majority of those choosing a B&B are young couples. Families are still very scarce; apparently they do not consider this type of accommodation interesting.

HOW LONG DO THEY STAY?

The survey shows some interesting elements about e separation of tourists flows from the seasons in Italy, and B&B are the best subjects to accommodate this tendency. They can offer the needed flexibility on the market to keep running past the usual holiday seasons. Comparatively low prices, together with functionality and friendliness, make the traveller/tourist choose this type of facilities for short stays.

This is not a random choice: prices and advantages of the B&B choice make it possible to increase the travel occasions over the year. The traditional hotel solution would considerably reduce this possibility. It is a weekend tourist movement of two or three days overnight stay that forms the flow towards B&Bs. The figures state it clearly: 54% of the travellers stay for 2 nights, 24% stays 3 nights, 12% more than three nights and 10% only one night.

The reasons bringing wayfarer to overnight in a B&B are mainly connected to tourism with the following percentages: 50% cultural tourism, 23% bathing tourism, 5% food and wine tourism. On the other hand we have 10% of guest accommodated in a B&B for business. The transit percentage is 5%.

WHAT DO THE GUESTS LIKE?

The last items of the survey asked the owners to rate the things that mostly satisfy the needs and wishes of their guests. Lodging is the item with the highest number of answers: 38% goes to lodging, i.e. all the parts of it. Furniture of the rooms and cosiness levels, outside areas and common areas.

At short distance, with 33%, welcome makes the difference, while 20% is chosen for the special location of the building. Then the remaining lower percentages: 5% for breakfast and 4% for the price. This last number clearly shows that the price is not the factor driving the client’s selection, but he chooses on the base of other elements.

DO FOREIGNERS PREFER B&BS?

The number of foreign overnights in the Italian B&Bs is increasing, but there is still room for a bigger expansion. The Euro unification has certainly helped to increase the foreigner presence also in B&Bs, but once again Internet in making the difference increasing the B&B demand from abroad.

The owners gave the following answers to the poll: There is a hard core of B&Bs, around 20% of them, that records a foreigner presence ranging from 30% to 50% yearly. The group ranging between 10 and 30% of non-Italian overnights rates 33%. A full 17% of our B&Bs exceed 50% of foreigners at home and only 32% reports less than 10% of overnights. Operators see a bright future, but B&Bs must interface in a better way with these markets. The foreigner’s stay is much longer than average Italians stay, it is focused on some periods of the year and they travel as groups of families. The foreign traveller/tourist choosing a B&B is a protagonist of his voyage, he plans it at home, mapping out routes which often do not match the mainstream tours.

The research was conducted by

Gran Via srl - società&comunicazione
www.granviasc.it