Authentic Italy I
Alex Coxon discovers that Sardinia’s focus on its burgeoning adventure and food and wine tourism sectors is proving a hit with airlines and visitors alike.
ts secluded sandy beaches, aquamarine lagoons and towering headlands have enchanted Italian tourists for decades. But over the past 10 years, Sardinia has become a popular destination for visitors from other nations, who are eager to sample its warm Mediterranean climate, stunning coastline and famous hospitality. Thanks to the arrival of low-cost airlines, even Sardinia’s most glamorous resorts on the Costa Smeralda, near Olbia in the north-east of the island, have become accessible. Little wonder then that, despite the recession, tourist arrivals have remained pretty much constant – with the island welcoming 2.15 million guests in 2010 for a total of 11.5 million overnight stays, compared with 2.2 million arrivals and 11.8 million hotel nights in 2009. What slight contraction Sardinia has witnessed can be attributed for the most part to the domestic market, which, according to the island’s tourist board, represented two-thirds of the 2.5% reduction in visitor numbers in 2010. The rest of world, meanwhile, has kept Sardinia fi rmly on its holiday map, supported by a perpetual stream of new airline routes to the destination.
Sardinia is 24,090sqkm in size and is the second largest island in the Mediterranean. Three airports – Olbia Costa Smeralda and Alghero-Fertilia in the north and Cagliari-Elmas in the south – serve it. Of these, Cagliari-Elmas is the biggest, handling some 3.4 million arrivals in 2010. Indeed, in spite of the global economic downturn and nominal decline in Sardinia’s overall tourist numbers, this particular airport has witnessed an unprecedented growth over the past three years, including a 3.3% increase in
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passenger numbers in 2010 compared with 2009, and a 14.8% and 9.7% increase respectively in the two years prior to that.
A key reason why Cagliari-Elmas’ star is in the ascendant is the low-cost carrier Ryanair, which has now become the airport’s number one airline, usurping Meridiana from its former top position in 2010. Arguably Ryanair’s decision to open bases at both Cagliari and Alghero in March 2009 has had an impact on its positioning. Sardinia is, after all, an important location for Ryanair. As the airline’s head of communications, Stephen McNamara, puts it: “The destination is already very well known in Europe and is a desirable place to travel … [We’ve] seen the potential Sardinia has to create sustained passenger traffi c [and it’s] for this reason Ryanair decided to keep developing from the island.” This notwithstanding, Alessio Grazietti, general manager at Cagliari-Elmas Airport, believes that the airline’s approach of operating a year-round schedule of fl ights has been equally responsible for putting it ahead of its competitors.
Ryanair’s year-round schedule It is an approach, he tells Routes News, that is really benefi ting the tourist trade. “Sardinia has traditionally been a very seasonal region, with people fl ying using routes that only operate in the summer,” he says. “To improve tourism, it is important for us to de-seasonalise the traffi c and bring people in during the spring and autumn. Ryanair has helped us do that by [choosing to operate] point-to-point and international routes the whole year round.”
Today, he continues, 75% of all fl ights to Cagliari-Elmas operate year-round and 25% are seasonal. “It is more balanced,” he says – although he later concedes that the majority of the 15 new connections launched by the airport at the end of March are seasonal offerings and will run only for the next six months.
On the positive side, the fi ve of these 15 that are operated by Ryanair are brand new destinations for Cagliari-Elmas. By opening up routes to Ibiza, Krakow, Parma, Perugia and Rhodes, the focus will be on encouraging a whole new set of tourists to visit Sardinia.
Similar efforts are being made at Alghero-Fertilia and Olbia Costa Smeralda airports – the latter of which recently announced that it will be launching two new routes this summer: one thrice-weekly to Paris Orly with easyJet, commencing July 10, and a second weekly connection to London Heathrow, which will be managed by British Airways on behalf of tour operator Sardatur Holidays, starting on May 21.
www.routes-news.com
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