For years they told us that Instagram would decide everything: the restaurant to dine in, the dress to wear, the village to reach, the beach to photograph at the right time. Yet, when the time comes to actually choose where to go on holiday, Italians seem much less manipulable than the hype industry likes to think.
According to a new international survey conducted by YouGov for Omio, only 6% of Italian travelers say they choose their destination based on social trends or the most popular online content. A minimal percentage, almost surprising in the era in which every place seems to exist only after having gone viral. The truth, the data says, is different: Italians continue to travel following personal interests, concrete desires and advice from people they trust.
The holiday is not chosen for the feed
The most interesting fact is precisely this: social media inspires, but rarely decides. When it comes to planning a holiday, 58% of Italians interviewed indicate personal interests among the main factors of choice. More than the budget, indicated by 50%, and more than the practical considerations related to logistics and ease of travel, indicated by 40%.
Translated: we still leave for what we want to experience, not just for what we want to show. A museum, a landscape, a city linked to a passion, a gastronomic region, a journey built around a personal desire weigh more than the latest trend seen online.
And it’s not just a question of principle. According to the survey, those who choose according to their preferences also tend to be more satisfied. In fact, 53% of Italians declare that they were satisfied with their last trip precisely because it was built around their interests. For 40%, that holiday was even more significant than usual because it truly reflected personal tastes, passions and inclinations.
Less selfies, more experience
Another cliché also fails: that of the tourist always with the phone in hand, more interested in documenting than in living. Only 4% of Italians say they feel the pressure of having to tell and share their journey on social media. A similar share thinks already in the planning phase about how the holiday will appear online.
Even the desire to amaze others seems to count for little. Just 7% choose a destination thinking about how suggestive or enviable it may seem in the eyes of others. Almost half of those interviewed, 49%, say they feel little or no pressure in having to visit certain places or have certain experiences.
It is a fact that tells of a small contemporary disobedience. In a world that pushes every trip to become contained, many Italians seem to defend the holiday as a private, emotional, even imperfect space. Not necessarily spectacular. Not necessarily instagrammable. Simply yours.
The charm of less traveled destinations
The fatigue from digital overexposure is also seen in the choice of destinations. 18% of Italians say they have avoided destinations perceived as too crowded or overrated. The same percentage deliberately seeks out lesser-known and less congested places.
It’s the flip side of viral tourism. The more a destination is repeated, posted, recommended, photographed and transformed into a global backdrop, the more some travelers feel the need to distance themselves from it. Not out of snobbery, but to find something that still resembles an authentic experience.
The idea of queuing to take the same photo seen thousands of times on social media seems less and less seductive. Instead, there is a growing desire for more personal, less predictable journeys, capable of escaping the obligatory choreography of digital over-tourism.
Friends and family beat influencers
If social media remains a source of inspiration, the last word still belongs to the people close to us. Only 6% of Italians attribute a decisive role to influencers or external online sources in planning their holiday. On the contrary, 18% chose a destination following the advice of friends, family or colleagues, including them among the three main decision-making factors of the last trip.
It’s a return to word of mouth, but in a contemporary version. Not necessarily against the internet, but beyond the internet. We listen to those who have already been to that place, those who know our tastes, those who know if a destination can really work for us. Personal advice continues to have a value that no algorithm can completely replace.
Gen Z feels social pressure more
Of course, generational differences exist. Among the very young Gen Z, 26% admit to feeling a certain social pressure: that feeling of having to visit the right places or organize a trip that deserves to be shared. Among Boomers, the same pressure affects 14%.
Yet even among the youngest, the weight of social media does not automatically translate into concrete choices. 12% chose a destination thinking about the effect it would have on others. 13% changed their visit times to get the best light for photos. Another 13% admit that they are already thinking about how the trip will appear on social media during the planning stage.
Significant numbers, but still a minority. Even in the segment most exposed to image culture, the journey does not seem to be completely reduced to its digital rendering.
Travel for yourself, not for the algorithm
The Omio-YouGov survey, carried out on 7,567 people in Italy, Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, returns a less predictable image of Italian travellers. Less dominated by trends, less obsessed with social performance, more interested in building experiences consistent with their desires.
Veronica Diquattro, President of Omio’s B2C & Supply, summarizes the data as follows: travel remains one of the few areas in which people resist the pressure of trends and truly choose for themselves. Social media can spark inspiration, but it doesn’t always drive the final decision.
And this is perhaps the most interesting news: in an era in which everything seems to have to become contained, holidays still retain a zone of freedom. Some Italians watch, save, scroll, perhaps dream in front of a video. But then he chooses something else. A destination linked to a passion, advice received from a friend, a less crowded place, a trip that doesn’t necessarily have to please others.
Ultimately, the real tourism revolution could be precisely this: leaving without having to prove anything.
