Alla ricerca di una ricettività “low cost”: tentativi di risposta nell’area bergamasca

Abstract

This paper analyses the growth of a low cost accommodation in Bergamo and in its province. The work presents four paragraphs and final conclusions. In the first two paragraphs we define the most important changes occurred in tourist behaviours in the last years and we describe the excellent performance reported by Orio al Serio airport thanks to the low cost flight policy. Nowadays the tourist/vacationer, who has a strong decision-making power, asks for new cheap solutions, essential services and short-break trips. In order to meet the needs of this new consumer the tourist market, especially in Bergamo, is in progress. Thanks to the low cost flight policy, during the last years international tourist arrivals at Orio al Serio airport increased, despite the recent world economic crisis. The results of some studies realised by University of Bergamo confirm that the international tourist in Bergamo is more and more a low profile tourist who searches for cheap solutions, but also good quality services. This means that he has little spending power, but he doesn’t give up travelling. For this reason in the other two paragraphs we illustrate the expansion of new hospitality accommodation in the city and in its province. If in the past Bergamo and its province lived thanks to business tourism, today the growth of Orio al Serio airport promotes new ways of tourist consumption. So in the last years this hospitality industry reorganised an offer based on particular strategies aimed at keeping low production costs. The rationalisation of human resources, the reduction of energy consumption, special prices policies, the use of Internet for promotion allow to keep and offer low costs and good quality. Thanks to all these new solutions the hospitality industry in Bergamo is increasing more and more her competitiveness, although a lot of problems persist in particular with regard to hotel chains and a culture of hospitality still closed and little innovative.