A couple walks into an agency with a fairly precise plan: two weeks in Japan in April, Kyoto and Kanazawa, one night in a ryokan. The agent puts together the estimate. Flight, eleven nights, a Japan Rail Pass, a couple of experiences, and then he fixes the price. The amount falls within what they expected. They are held back by the payment terms: a deposit within the week with the balance due thirty days before departure. He thinks about swapping the car in January and covering the February university tuition. “We’ll think about it.”
The agent knows how this usually ends: the trip is shortened, downgraded, or disappears altogether. This time, before the couple stands up, he offers an alternative payment arrangement. The total remains the same, the figures become ten, but small, with a real-time result while they’re still seated at the desk. They confirm in the afternoon. A few days later they come back to add back the excursion they had removed to balance the books. The agency collects the amount quickly, with no liquidity impact.
Paying for a trip in installments has moved from a supplementary service to a commercial lever. Amid record tourism and the rise of Buy Now Pay Later, tour operators and hospitality facilities can use installment payments to boost conversion and average ticket. HeyLight presents its travel solutions at the TTG Travel Experience in Rimini, from October 14 to 16, 2026.
Tourism in Italy 2026, the numbers of a record year
The figures highlight a sector in full expansion. In the first quarter of 2026 Italian accommodation facilities registered 23 million arrivals and 71.6 million overnight stays: +4.2% and +7.5% compared with the previous year. More than half of the stays (54.6%) come from abroad, with an annual growth of 12.3%. The momentum did not stop with the summer. According to the Statistics Office of the Ministry of Tourism, July 2026 brought in over one million arrivals and more than four million additional overnight stays compared with July 2025, with international stays up by +6%.
But the most interesting data isn’t the quantity: it’s the new shape of demand. The extrahotel sector grew almost four times faster than traditional hotels (+14.7% vs +3.9%), with foreign clientele up +21.5%. Destagionalization is no longer just an aspiration, because in the summer of 2026 the average occupancy rate on the main OTAs reached 58.9%, more than ten points higher than 2025, and during the Ferragosto week it exceeded 65%, ahead of Spain and France. And travel is moving toward other realities: in the first half of the year small towns gained 5.3% in arrivals and 4.6% in stays. A more widespread, longer, more international tourism. And, inevitably, more planned.
BNPL and installment payments, how much they already weigh in travel
Those booking a holiday today are seeking greater foresight. They are a digital, informed consumer who manages their budget the way they manage their time—by distributing it.
Payments corroborate this. According to the Innovative Payments Observatory of the Polytechnic University of Milan, in 2025 digital payments in Italy reached 518 billion euros, cementing the shift away from cash. Within this transition, Buy Now Pay Later is the fastest-growing phenomenon: 9.9 billion euros in value in 2025, over 42 million transactions, 5% of national e-commerce. Millennials and Gen Z generate 67% of requests. And tourism already accounts for 16.9% of uses.
Credit follows the same trajectory. According to Experian, by June 2026 requests for travel-focused financing had risen by 102% compared with the previous month, while BNPL recorded a 33.3% year-on-year increase: one of the strongest gains across consumer credit. On the other side of the counter, consumer behavior has already shifted: two Italians in ten now use installment payments to finance vacations.
Paying for a trip in installments, from necessity to choice
“We’re no longer in the paradigm of credit out of necessity, but in the one of flexibility as choice. The customer today opts to pay in installments to manage their budget intelligently, without sacrificing the quality of the experience. It’s a cultural shift: payment becomes part of travel planning,” explains Luca Lambertini, Director of HeyLight.
A change that is also reflected in the products being sold. Installment plans are growing especially for long-haul trips, study trips, cruises, and experiential packages: high-value products planned well in advance that the customer wants to experience to the fullest.
“Installments follow not only price but perceived value: the more a trip represents a meaningful moment, the more the customer wants to manage it intelligently,” continues Lambertini. Then there’s the response time, because the desire to depart has a short window, and any delay closes it: “The customer chooses a trip when desire, inspiration and convenience align. If, in that moment, the outcome of the request is in the same session, the choice becomes natural. Real-time response eliminates uncertainty and reduces friction,” stresses the HeyLight director again.
The purchase must still be sustainable. For this reason transparency is part of the offer, with clear communication on costs, installments, and conditions that makes flexibility a service rather than a risk.
HeyLight, installment payments up to 5000 euros for travel
This is where HeyLight enters, the payment and credit solutions system from Compass, also ideal for the travel sector. The platform allows deferral of amounts up to 5000 euros, from 2 to 12 installments.
For the traveler it means booking with greater peace of mind and spreading the cost of the experience over time. For the seller, it means something more tangible: higher conversion, increased average ticket, and loyalty. If payment is no longer a hurdle, the customer decides sooner, adds services, personalizes. And liquidity stays steady: agencies, tour operators, hotels and accommodations receive the funds promptly.
The solution is omnichannel, because the customer journey already is:
- In the agency, via SmartPOS or PC
- Online, through e-commerce and integrations with the main booking engines
- Remotely, with a payment link sent by email or SMS
A single digital experience, consistent across physical and digital touchpoints.
Hotels and accommodations: book now, pay until check-in
For the accommodation sector there is an even more specific opportunity: to let guests book immediately and pay progressively up to check-in.
It’s a simple mechanism with three concrete effects. It encourages early bookings by removing the barrier of upfront expenditure. It reduces promotional pressure, because there’s no longer a need to discount to persuade. And it supports destaging strategies, shifting demand even outside peak periods.
Travel agencies and tour operators, BNPL as a commercial lever
In the coming years BNPL will enter the tourism product as insurance, upgrades, or ancillary services do today. And those who sell will have a decisive role.
“Agencies and tour operators will play a decisive role. Not only in proposing the deferral or financing, but in integrating them as advisory tools: explaining how they work, when they are advantageous, how they can expand the experience. It will become a commercial lever, a conversion accelerator, and a way to differentiate,” says Lambertini.
It’s a perspective that flips the point of view. Payment thus becomes the first advisory instrument, the one that opens the conversation about a longer, richer, more customized journey.
Discover the HeyLight solutions for installment payments in travel
TTG Travel Experience – 14-16 October | Rimini Fair | Hall C5, Stand 307
Advertising message with promotional intent HeyLight is a registered trademark of Compass Banca S.p.A. and identifies several installment payment solutions: A) The interest-free deferral granted to consumers, subject to assessment, by sellers of goods and services with which Compass Banca S.p.A. has entered into an agreement for the assignment of credits pro-soluto (factoring). Complete conditions applicable to the deferral are available from sellers of goods and services. Factoring Information Sheets related to the factoring contract available at http://www.compass.it, http://www.HeyLight.com, at Compass Banca S.p.A. branches or with financial agents operating as single-mandate credit intermediaries or with an exclusive product mandate of Compass Banca S.p.A.. Subject to approval by Compass Banca S.p.A.. B) The loan finalised with consumers, subject to approval, directly from Compass Banca S.p.A.. Economic and contractual conditions available at http://www.compass.it, http://www.HeyLight.com and at the sellers, affiliated with or without exclusivity with Compass Banca S.p.A.. C) Furthermore, the HeyLight brand has been licensed to Holipay S.r.l., an Italian company based in Viale Ortigara, 7/9 Milano Marittima (RA) Registry of Companies of RA Tax Code and VAT Number 16090851003. The technological service offered by Holipay is designed to meet the needs of hoteliers, to automate and distribute cash flow by scheduling deposits through a software as a service integrated with a payment gateway service. The use of the service is subject to terms and conditions at www.heylight.com/it/it/viaggi-turismo.
