From hotels to tolls, the cost of vacations has nearly tripled in ten years (and domestic flights cost 193% more)

Eleven days, almost always concentrated in August: this is how the average summer holiday of an Italian looked like in 2016. Today the typical stay lasts three or four nights, distributed between June, July and September. The reason, numbers in hand, is explained by an analysis by the Consumption Training and Research Center (Crc), which compared the tourist sector price lists from ten years ago with those in force this summer, taking official Istat data as a reference.

The transport record: flights almost tripled

The record for price increases belongs to air transport. National flights increased by 193.3%, a figure which essentially means a cost that has almost tripled compared to 2016. Not far behind are European flights, which rose by 187.1%, while intercontinental flights stopped at a more contained 67.7%: a lower growth that the CRC links to demand weakened by the war in Iran. Even the sea does not offer discounts: ferry rates show a +92.1%, almost doubling. Traveling by car saves a little but not too much, with diesel costing 61% more and petrol 28.5%; car rental increases by 27.9% and train tickets by 27.6%. Motorway tolls, however, remain the smallest increase in the transport sector, a +10.3% which seems almost modest when compared to the rest of the list.

Hotels and holiday packages: the hospitality bill

On the hospitality front, the blow mainly concerns hotels: sleeping in a hotel costs 68.8% more than a decade ago, and all-inclusive packages reach +46.4%. Those looking for a cheaper alternative can still count on tourist villages and campsites, whose prices have risen “only” by 22.1%: the solution, in short, that has best withstood tourist inflation.

At the table: tomatoes, fruit and pressurized ice cream

Not even the table remains unscathed. Tomatoes recorded +74%, ​​salad +41.2%, fresh fruit +39.8%. Ice cream, the inevitable companion of summer evenings, costs 36.2% more, while a fish-based dinner now weighs a third more on the wallet (+33.7% for fish products). Significant increases also for mineral water (+33%) and soft drinks (+30.5%).

The two exceptions: beer and air conditioners

Two exceptions, for those looking for a comforting shelter from the heat and price increases: beer costs just 16.4% more than in 2016, and air conditioners (goods which could also be imagined to be among the most requested in recent years) mark the lowest increase in the entire ranking, 15%.

How Italians’ habits are changing

These are the words of the president of the scientific committee of the CRC, Furio Truzzi:

The heavy price increases that have hit the travel and tourism sector in recent years have profoundly changed the habits of Italians, who adopt survival strategies to treat themselves to a holiday without emptying their wallets. If in 2016 the summer holiday had an average duration of 11 days and was concentrated in the month of August, today families take shorter trips, of 3 or 4 nights away from home, but more frequent and spread over the months of June, July and September, when the rates are lower. Destinations that are close and easily reachable are increasingly preferred, in order to contain transport costs: the percentage of those who choose foreign destinations for their summer holidays has more than halved, going from 25.5% in 2016 to 12% last year.

We are witnessing a total rethinking of the holiday, in which instead of the three weeks in August, short getaways spread over three months are preferred, perhaps to a nearby destination, which can be done by car (not with an intercontinental flight). A reorganization that certainly arises from the price, and not from personal tastes.

The price increase ranking

Here is the complete list of price increases for the period 2016 – 2026: