Emerging Travel Group data shows more tourists choosing Italy in 2025
Emerging Travel Group (ETG), a global travel company operating the RateHawk, ZenHotels, and Roundtrip brands, reports a significant increase in demand for trips to Italy across its platforms. From January to August, the number of bookings grew by 25% year-over-year with B2B customers – including travel agents and business travelers – leading the growth with a 30% increase.
Emerging Travel Group, which serves a diverse customer base including travel professionals (RateHawk), corporate clients (Roundtrip), and individual tourists (ZenHotels), has identified distinct booking trends within each segment when planning trips to Italy.
While all traveler groups opted for 3- and 4-star hotels with an average stay of three nights, their spending patterns, as well as preferred destinations and travel periods, varied.
Rome, Milan, Florence, and Venice ranked as the top choices for all visitors to the country. Travel agents booking accommodations through the RateHawk platform opted for coastal destinations such as Palermo, Catania, and Sorrento. Individual travelers preferred culture hubs like Verona, Genoa, and Rimini. In contrast, corporate travelers more frequently visited business hubs and booked hotels near airports, particularly in Fiumicino and Somma Lombardo.
Among ETG’s audiences, the travel agent and corporate client segments showed higher spending – €220 and €245 per night, respectively, while individual tourists had a lower average daily rate of €151.
Leisure travelers, whether booking through tourism agents or independently, visited Italy more often during the high season from May to August, as well as during major holidays such as Easter. In contrast, demand in the business segment remained steady throughout the whole period from January to August.
Simone Large, Emerging Travel Group’s Head of Direct Supply, commented: “Italy is the most booked destination within Emerging Travel Group’s platforms, with growing interest across all tourist segments, especially the B2B segment. To meet this demand, we are actively expanding our portfolio of directly connected hotels in the region, ensuring our clients and partners continue to receive the best possible rates and deals.
For Italian property owners, working with Emerging Travel Group unlocks access to high-value demand – from 100,000 travel professionals and 20,000 corporate clients to millions of individual travelers. Hoteliers can expand their distribution network and maintain steady occupancy year-round. Additionally, our Italian partners benefit from a localized Extranet in Italian and a dedicated local business team to help maximize their results with ETG.”
From October 8th to 10th, Emerging Travel Group will present its technologies tailored to Italian hoteliers at TTG Travel Experience 2025 in Rimini. ETG’s Direct Supply team will be available at Hall A3, Stand 327.
Emerging Travel Group provides its customers and partners with access to more than 2.9 million accommodation options available through direct connections and more than 330 suppliers. Since 2023, ETG has been scaling its direct supply strategy. As of August 2025, the number of directly connected accommodations has reached 220,000 listings, which is a year-over-year increase of 40%. In 2024, Emerging Travel Group achieved a gross transaction value of $3.7 billion.