Farmhouses, in 2020 companies increase by 2% but economic value collapses

The health crisis due to the Covid-19 pandemic has not produced negative effects on the number of agritourism companies which in 2020, compared to 2019, increase by 484 units, 25,060 are active on the national territory (+ 2% compared to 2019). However, the agritourism production is just over 802 million euros – 48.9% compared to 2019 and -27% compared to 2007. The health crisis has therefore greatly reduced the economic value of this sector whose added value affects the 2.3% of that of the entire agricultural sector (including forestry and fishing). Istat notes this in a report on agritourism for 2020. Until 2019 the trend of agritourisms follows the trend of the economic cycle, albeit with more contained fluctuations. In 2020, following the health emergency, there is a differentiation between economic value, attendance and number of farmhouses. Covid-19 has produced very serious effects on the presence and therefore on the economic value of the farmhouses, but, at the same time, it has not affected the structure of the network of these companies which has shown its solidity. And in fact, in 2020 arrivals in agritourism facilities were 2.2 million -41.3% compared to 2019, the lowest number since 2010. The composition of guests with respect to nationality sees the prevalence of Italians with 1.5 million ( just under 2 million the previous year) while foreigners are just over 669 thousand (less than 1.8 million in 2019). 76% of the economic value was generated by the agritourisms in the center and north-east. Compared to 2019 there is a strong reduction for all geographical areas: from -47.4% in the Center to -50.5% in the North-East which is therefore the area most penalized also for the strong reduction of agritourists from the center Europe. The average value of production per company (economic value of the sector divided by the number of farmhouses) is just over 32 thousand euros (63 thousand euros in 2019) and rises to just over 41 thousand in the North-East and over 34 thousand in the Center. Compared to 2019, the strongest contraction, in absolute value, is once again borne by the structures of the North-East (-45 thousand euros).