Hotel operators in Italy expect the Christmas and New Year's holidays to be in line with last year, even though more Italians will take advantage of the strong euro and travel abroad.
''Data we have shows that about 80% of Italians will spend the holidays in Italy, while 20.8% will go abroad at Christmas and 21.1% at New Year's,'' said the chairman of the hotel association Federalberghi, Bernabo' Bocca.
Last year, 13.7% of Italians went abroad at Christmas and 17.5% at New Year's.
An estimated 9.6 million Italians will go away between Christmas and New Year's, with over two million making it a long holiday including both festivities.
They are expected to spend around six billion euros.
Of the almost two million Italians travelling abroad, most will be going to major capitals, like Paris and London, while others will seek exotic locations.
