This summer Italians have chosen ‘micro-holidays’

Summer 2026 will record around three million more departures than last year and confirms the change in Italians’ travel habits with increasingly “split” holidays and a growing preference for shorter stays spread over the season: for 58% of Italians, in fact, summer is characterized by multiple separate holiday periods (only a quarter have planned a single summer holiday, mainly short), while 17% will not take any holiday.

Above all, micro-holidays will dominate the season: 69% of Italians plan one or more short stays, a higher share than that of those who will take a classic holiday of at least a week (52%). The main holiday – between June and September – still remains in August for 43% (22% in September) and, for 26%, it will also be a long holiday.

The destinations: the choice of Italy is growing

Among destinations, the uncertainties of the international scenario influence travel choices, favoring Italian locations (in fact, the share of Italians who will spend their holidays abroad is reduced from 44% to 37%). The number of people who will travel to a non-European country compared to last year has more than halved with a peak of -67% for choices regarding breaks. This is what emerges from the investigation Confturismo-Confcommercioin collaboration with Swgon Italian holidays in 2026.

The holiday budget

As for the spending budget, the overall average amount expected for summer holidays is equal to 1,165 euros per capita. Italians, therefore, continue to leave, but tend to distribute the budget over several holiday periods and to contain the expenditure allocated to each stay, favoring solutions that allow the desire to travel to be reconciled with greater attention to costs. In fact, in August 31% of Italians will go to second homes or resort to the hospitality of friends and relatives, confirming how economic availability continues to represent one of the main factors affecting holidays. 10% of Italians will not be able to take even a day of vacation for economic reasons.

Income differences

The difficulties are particularly evident among families with an annual income of less than 18 thousand euros (31% will not leave at all), while for families with an income above 54 thousand euros per year over six out of ten plan multiple holiday periods, including at least a stay of a week or more.

Pinzger’s words

“Summer 2026 – he declared Manfred Pinzgerpresident of Confturismo-Confcommercio – confirms challenges and opportunities for tourism: on the one hand, it remains a priority to support internal consumption to allow a greater number of Italians to enjoy a holiday; on the other hand, the tendency to distribute the budget over several holiday periods can favor the valorisation of internal areas and villages. As Confturismo-Confcommercio we reiterate the need to build, together with the Minister of Tourism Gianmarco Mazzia shared strategy to promote these territories, govern flows in destinations with greater tourist pressure, strengthen the competitiveness of Italian tourism”.