International tourism spending in Italy 2019-2021

International tourism spending in Italy increased by roughly 3.5 billion euros in 2021 over the previous year, after dropping sharply in 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Overall, the expenditure of inbound travelers in the country amounted to 20.8 billion euros in 2021. Despite the annual increment, this figure remained way below pre-pandemic levels.

International and domestic tourism spending

In 2021, the contribution of travel and tourism to the Italian GDP mostly depended on domestic expenditure, which accounted for 84 percent of total tourism spending. While the international expenditure partially recovered in 2021 but did not catch up with pre-pandemic levels, domestic tourism spending in Italy bounced back in 2021, slightly surpassing the figure recorded in 2019.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

Travel and tourism have been one of the industries most hit by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, as countries had to implement stay-at-home measures to face the health crisis. In Italy, the pandemic had a dramatic impact especially on inbound travel spending. According to a December 2020 study, inbound tourist spending in Italy was predicted to return to the 2019 level by 2023.