Almost a fifth of the artisan businesses in Sardinia , 19.2% of those active, are involved , directly or through induced activities, in the regional tourism market . There are 6,597 small and medium-sized artisan businesses that deal with activities related to holidays and leisure , such as installation and maintenance of air conditioning systems, transport of people, cleaning services, laundry, gardening, production of furniture and home accessories but also construction work, tourist services, without forgetting artistic craftsmanship, agri-food and catering, which provide work to 16,337 workers.
These are some of the tourism data collected by the Research Office of Confartigianato Imprese Sardegna "Economy and tourism businesses - Trends and territories" (source UnionCamere-InfoCamere 2024), on the crafts involved in tourism activities on the island, and presented in Cagliari during the works of "Extra 2025, national exhibition of non-hotel tourism", currently underway.
The initiative allowed the meeting between the 6,500 Sardinian artisan businesses and the 37 thousand non-hotel facilities , and encouraged direct dialogue between supply and demand for services created almost "tailor-made" for a sector that interests hundreds of thousands of tourists and a turnover of several million euros .
Among the old provinces of Sardinia, Cagliari is in the lead with 2,559 businesses and 5,932 employees , followed by Sassari-Gallura with 2,290 businesses with 6,150 employees , then Nuoro with 1,350 artisan businesses and 3,308 workers and, finally, Oristano with 398 businesses and 947 employees. In terms of sector, the main sector is Agri-food, which has 1,567 businesses (23.8% of the artisan businesses in the sector) and produces food and drinks . While there are 1,482 restaurants and pizzerias (22.5%) and 446 bars, cafes and pastry shops (6.8%) - together, this means 1,928 businesses and 29.2% of the sector - that make quality products produced by the agri-food sector available to tourists, contributing to hospitality. This is followed by 1,352 companies related to "other manufacturing and service activities" (20.5%) which include important craft activities such as the production of jewelry and costume jewelry, ceramics and glass and frames, the artistic processing of marble, iron, copper and other metals, photography, personal services such as wellness centers and gyms and also services for pets.
There are 1,169 passenger transport companies (17.7%) that integrate the offer of tourist transport. Followed by 503 clothing and footwear companies (7.6%).
"Confartigianato has been closely observing the evolution of the non-hotel sector for some time now and its ability to offer high-quality, personalized services, to liven up the economy both directly and through related activities, to create employment, widespread income and to develop a business culture with high, modern and innovative quality standards," said Giacomo Meloni, president of Confartigianato Sardegna . "In fact, our artisan businesses are ready to offer their services to the non-hotel facilities scattered around the island."
«This is why we decided to participate actively and with conviction in this event - continued Meloni - by organizing a real initiative that would bring together companies, managers and consultants physically».
(Online Union)