Vacation Planning Trends for Italy’s Top Destinations by Vacation Rentals and Lodging Directory Rentalo.com

Hotels Versus Vacation Rentals Comparison Shopping and Vacation Planning Trends for Leisure Travelers Visiting Italy’s Top Destinations including Rome, Venice, Tuscany and Florence

Miami, FL. February 25, 2010 – Rentalo.com, a leading lodging and vacation rental web site, recently conducted a trend analysis on its database of 7,853 opted-in travelers searching for hotels, bed and breakfasts, and vacation rentals in Italy’s top vacation spots from July 2008 to January 2010.  The lodging directory is making these findings available to the travel industry in order to provide better understanding of consumer’s level of interest in comparison shopping and vacation planning dynamics.  The study data below confirms Rentalo’s successful business strategy to facilitate comparison shopping and vacation planning for vacation and trip planners.   

Italy’s Top Family Vacation Destination: Rome


Forty-four percent of the vacation planners showed interest in comparison shopping among Rome vacation rentals, bed breakfasts, motels, and hotels.  31 percent were also interested in receiving offers from vacation houses, condos, guesthouses, inns, and hotels in Rome including Fiumicino, Grottaferrata, Frascati, and Lazio.

Fifty-six percent were early planners who started their Rome vacation planning 2 or more months in advance from the travel date, 27 percent of the inquiries were sent 1 to 2 months in advance, and 16 percent were from last minute travelers inquiring within the last 30 days prior to the arrival date.

Rome’s most popular vacation theme is family with 35 percent of the traveler’s inquiries requesting accommodations for groups of more than 4 adults, 27 percent for couples, 21 percent for families with children, and 17 percent for people traveling alone.

Italy’s Top Romantic Vacation Destination: Venice

Sixty-nine percent of the vacation planners showed interest in comparison shopping among Venice Italy vacation rentals, bed and breakfasts, and hotels.  55 percent were also interested in receiving offers from vacation cabins, cottages, guesthouses, motels, and hotels near Venice including Mogliano, Casale Sul Sile, Mirano, Treviso, and Fossalta di Piave.

Fifty-four percent were early planners who started their Venice vacation planning 2 or more months in advance from the travel date, 16 percent of the inquiries were sent 1 to 2 months in advance, and 28 percent were from last minute travelers inquiring within the last 30 days prior to the arrival date.
Venice’s most popular vacation theme is romance with 36 percent of the traveler’s inquiries requesting accommodations for 2, 30 percent for groups of more than 4 adults, 28 percent for families with children, and 6 percent for people traveling alone.

Italy’s Top Agriturismo Destination: Tuscany


Sixty-seven percent of the vacation planners showed interest in comparison shopping among Tuscany vacation rentals, bed and breakfasts, inns, and hotels. 21 percent were also interested in receiving offers from vacation homes, inns, resorts, and hotels from other cities in Tuscany such as Anghiari, Arcidosso, Arezzo, Artimino, Asciano, Aulla, Bagni di Lucca, Bagno a Ripoli, Barberino di Mugello, Barga, Bibbona, Bientina, Bivigliano, Borgo San Lorenzo, Campi Bisenzio, Capalbio, Carrara, Casciana Terme, and Cascina.

Fifty-two percent were early planners who started their Tuscany vacation planning 2 or more months in advance from the travel date, 23 percent of the inquiries were sent 1 to 2 months in advance, and 23 percent were from last minute travelers inquiring within the last 30 days prior to the arrival date.

Italy
’s Top City Destination: Florence (part of Tuscany)  

Sixty-six percent of the vacation planners showed interest in comparison shopping among Florence vacation rentals, b&bs, inns, and small hotels.  48 percent were also interested in receiving offers from other accommodations such as vacation cabins, inns, and boutique hotels near Florence such as Fiesole, Campi Bisenzio, Prato, Figline Valdarno, and Certaldo.

Fifty-five percent were early planners who started their Florence vacation planning 2 or more months in advance from the travel date, 14 percent of the inquiries were sent 1 to 2 months in advance, and 30 percent were from last minute travelers inquiring within the last 30 days prior to the arrival date.
Florence’s most popular vacation theme is family with 38 percent of the traveler’s inquiries requesting accommodations for groups of more than 4 adults, 32 percent for couples, 24 percent for families with children, and 6 percent for people traveling alone.

In today's economic uncertainty, consumers are showing increased interest in comparison shopping.  “At Rentalo.com, finding the best values in lodgings takes little time mainly because the information is easily accessible to consumers.” says Alfredo Purrinos, President and Founder of Rentalo.com “Our free inquiry service allows travelers to easily and quickly compare lodging options.”

The lodging directory has helped over 400,000 travelers find the best values in vacation rentals, hotels, and bed and breakfasts since July of 2008.  Additional trends and analysis data is available from Rentalo.com on its opted-in database of close to one million travelers and vacation rental listing owners in close to 15,000 vacation destinations worldwide.

About Rentalo.com
Rentalo.com is a leading online travel lodging and vacation rental website. Its broad inventory of vacation rentals, bed and breakfasts, and hotels is available online and via RSS feeds, affiliate distribution partners, as well as thousands of journalists and editors through e-mail, press releases, and travel publications. Through selected partnerships, Rentalo's inventory is available to an online audience of more than 100 million travelers in the United States and abroad.  For more information, visit http://rentalo.com or call 1(305) 558-5577.

Media Contact:
Carolina Plata
c.plata@rentalo.com
1-305-558-5577 ext 607

BACK