Tourist attractions with the highest income in Italy 2019-2020

Which tourist attractions in Italy have the highest income? The archaeological park of the Colosseum recorded by far the highest revenues in 2019, generating an income of 57.6 million euros. However, this figure dropped sharply in 2020, as museums closed to the public for several months due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In that year, the Colosseum still reported the highest figure, but the income fell to 8.8 million euros. In 2020, the Uffizi Galleries placed second in the ranking, with an income of around 8.6 million euros, showing a remarkable decrease over 2019. Meanwhile, the Uffizi Galleries topped the list of the most visited museums in Italy in 2020.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on museum attendance

Due to the impact of the health crisis, the total number of visitors to State museums and similar cultural institutions in Italy experienced a dramatic drop in 2020 over the previous year, decreasing from nearly 55 million to approximately 13 million. Overall, Lazio was the Italian region recording the highest museum attendance, but the number of visitors to museums in this region dropped from 25.6 million in 2019 to roughly 4.9 million in 2020.

Museums in Italy

As of 2019, the number of museums in Italy reached nearly five thousand. Most institutions were classified as museums, galleries, or archives, whereas the country recorded a total of 327 archaeological parks or sites. In that year, Tuscany was the Italian region with the highest number of museums overall, while Lazio reported the greatest number of public museums, namely institutions managed by the Italian Ministry of Culture (MiC).