It’s not the Amalfi Coast, but those left behind during the great travel exodus to Europe for the northern summer are taking solace in fine Italian dining at home. And at least it’s not hard to get a table. Bookings are holding steady in some of the country’s best restaurants, data shows, defying a traditional slowdown in winter. Italian restaurants are doing particularly well. “We started to notice a week-on-week increase in June for Italian cuisine, which coincidentally is also when everyone started jetting off to Europe for their summer vacation,” said Renee Fleming, marketing boss for booking platform The Fork. “For Aussies that might not be doing a Euro trip, they’ve been ... visiting their local Italian restaurants.” Travel bookings giant Flight Centre says one in six of its customers these days are bound for Europe. Italy, Germany and France have entered the company’s top 10 list of global destinations. At Crown Sydney, the harbourside precinct with top-end eateries, managers say demand at the most exclusive and vaunted restaurants is holding up despite the dark days of winter. Italian restaurants were among the top three restaurant choices in Sydney and Melbourne in June, even as total booking numbers fell lower in every city except Brisbane, according to The Fork. Australians stuck at home in the middle of a Euro summer travel boom have driven a surprise spike in demand for Italian restaurants, over a winter period that some restaurant and hotel owners say has been softer than usual. The most pronounced trend is a shift towards value, in time as well as price. In Sydney, customers are going for fixed-price options and set times that allow them to get in and out within a known window. “This trend is most commonly from the corporate lunch market who want to entertain clients while still being able to predict spend and be efficient with time during the workday,” the Crown spokesperson said.  (ICE SYDNEY)

Fonte notizia: Financial Review