Italian B&B Report 2007 - The owners of B&Bs in Italy

THE AGE OF THE OWNER

The survey showed that 46% of the owners are ranging between 31 and 45 years age. Roughly 37% of the owners belongs to the 46 to 65 years old range. The “under 30” follow with 14% and the “over 65” with little more than 3%.

Data underlines a partial heterogeneity of owners’ age with a peak around forty years old.

MEN AND WOMEN

Generally women play host at B&Bs. The survey underlines this data with at least 57.7% for women, while the remaining 42.3% is managed by men.

This tendency takes its power and can be explained with the historic role performed by women at home, nevertheless men's role in B&Bs management is quite important. The tiny difference between those two survey percentages promises balance in the near future.

EDUCATION

The surprise comes from a detail beyond all expectations. Over 90% of the owners have a high school degree and over 36% among them has a university degree.

This means that one owner out of four has a degree and only one out of 10 attended just compulsory schooling. The education level of the owners is on a high average, with 5% boasting a Ph.D. We can say that culture may be a decisive factor for the individual choice to set-up a B&B, but at the same time this is another element to understand the reasons of people choosing this solution to stay in Italy.

OCCUPATION

Among the 10 categories polled by the survey the most important fact is the difference between employed and unemployed. If we add up the percentages of students, retired, housewives and unemployed we get a percentage of 27.6% of the interviewee; while the remaining 72.4% are owners who have another occupation.

By statistics the B&B is a business to be added to the main job for the most of the owners. Another unexpected fact is the percentages about the occupation of the owners. Analysing the single occupation categories set on the survey it can be seen that: 36% are all the entrepreneurs and freelancers, around 15% the office workers, 6% are teachers, 4.5% are dealers and finally 12.5% are in the “other” category.

FOREIGN LANGUAGES

The internationalization ability of B&Bs is really high. The survey demonstrates it with 90% o the B&B owners speaking at least one foreign language, mainly English. Inside this percentage we have another fact showing up: 46% of the owners speak a third language.

This is a surplus value that translates immediately into the ability to catch the foreign tourist flow, not only the Italian one.

The research was conducted by

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