Genoa, November 9 (askanews) – With 21 million visitors in 2025 and growth of approximately 4% in 2026, amusement parks are increasingly playing a central role in leisure-related consumer choices and are establishing themselves as an essential component of the basket of experiences that Italians would like to enjoy more frequently.
This is what emerged from the AssoParchi Annual Meeting, which took place on November 5th and 6th at the Genoa Aquarium, and which also served as an opportunity to present the results of the AssoParchi 2026 National Observatory, created in collaboration with GRS Research & Strategy. "I had not the feeling but the certainty," explains AssoParchi President Luciano Pareschi, "that water parks, having had a wonderful summer, all worked harder.
Theme parks suffered a bit because with that heat, there wasn't much desire to go to them, but they're making a huge recovery now for Halloween; they've already recovered, and then there's Christmas for the big theme parks too. As a result, I think we'll be more towards a 4% increase, with a significant increase in per capita spending within the parks."
Affordable prices, affordable for all families, are a major advantage to the sector during this time of economic crisis. In fact, in June and September the cost for an entire family is around 100 euros. “It's the price of an evening at a pizzeria,” Pareschi emphasizes, “no more, no less, but it's not the moment, the half-hour of eating a pizza, but the nine hours inside a park where a family gets together, has fun together, and that's no small thing because, as we were talking about today, there aren't many moments of togetherness like those of a family in a park that can see 4-5 shows, beyond the attractions. And so it's a very special moment, it's a moment of great joy and magic that the park offers you." The first positive sign comes directly from visitors: from the analysis of nearly 4.000 questionnaires collected during the days of visits, the overall satisfaction level reaches 4,57 points out of 5, while the propensity to return stands at 4,40 out of 5. The Net Promoter Score, which is based on guests' willingness to recommend the experience to friends and colleagues, is at +69, on a scale of -100 to +100. Expanding the scope to the entire population, the GRS In Person Impact Index Italia survey, conducted on a sample of 705 interviewees, reveals that nearly 7 out of 10 Italians would like to have more in-person experiences, in the spirit of sharing. “The sector – comments the director of AssoParchi Maurizio Crisanti – continues to grow. The experience market in Italy is one of the trends that the public appreciates most. Amusement parks offer an in-person experience, done in a real, not virtual, way. So people meet, have fun, smile at each other, compare notes. It's an experience that transcends that offered by cell phones, online platforms, and everything else that distracts our people." Among the main objectives of the AssoParchi Annual Meeting are further strengthening the association and bringing it closer to the institutions. “We are incredible resources,” Pareschi recalls, “we are great attractors and we are fundamental. In fact, all governments abroad are paying a lot of attention to the parks, they are incentivized in every way because they not only boost the economy, create jobs, but also create incredible benefits for the entire area." At an event attended, among others, by Tourism Minister Gianmarco Mazzi, who via video link underlined the government's commitment to introducing significant regulatory simplifications, particularly regarding restrictions on advance ticket sales, and expressed the intention to involve the parks in institutional communication activities aimed at tourists. Cristian Biasoni, CEO of Costa Edutainment, hosted the event. "The world of amusement parks," Biasoni concludes, "of which Costa's parks clearly belong, particularly the Genoa Aquarium, where we are located today, is a very important market for the visitors who frequent the parks every year, but above all for the induced business these parks generate."
Askanews