ROME, April 13 (Xinhua) -- Ten million Italians are planning to travel sometime during the Easter holiday, which this year falls in proximity to two other major holidays, Confturismo tourist business association said in a survey on Saturday.
As well, this year Italian consumers will spend an estimated 400 million euros on chocolate Easter eggs and on the traditional "colomba" dove-shaped Easter cake, with two of three households saying they plan to eat at least one colomba, according to a market survey by the National Confederation of Artisans and Small and Medium Enterprises (CNA).
Easter occurs at different day every year: in 2018 it fell on April 1, but this year it will be on April 21 and be closely followed by Liberation Day on April 25 and International Workers' Day on May 1, meaning that this year, Italians can take an extended holiday from the weekend of April 21 through May 1.
According to the Confturismo report, 22 percent of respondents said they plan to travel during the period.
45 percent said their main motivation for traveling is to visit monuments, museums, or art exhibitions in Italy's so-called "cities of art": Rome, Florence and Venice were named as the preferred destinations, followed by the southern cities of Palermo, Naples, Lecce, and Matera which is this year's European capital of culture.
Another 30 percent of respondents have planned beach getaways, while 25 percent said they will visit relatives or friends, according to Confturismo.
In terms of overseas destinations, the main attractions were Madrid, Barcelona, London, Prague and various cities in France while travelers who are planning to leave Europe have booked seaside vacations at Egyptian resorts on the Red Sea as well as the Caribbean, with a preference for Cuba. (1 euro = 1.13 U.S. dollars)
