Travel and tourism in Italy - statistics & facts

Italy is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. Its great historical and cultural legacy is evident in places like Rome, Venice, Milan, and Florence - some of the most famous Italian tourist cities – which fascinate domestic and international travelers with their rich artistic, architectural, and archaeological heritage. While museums in Italy are a key driver of tourism, the European country has something for everyone, ranging from the green Tuscan countryside to the white Alpine range and the turquoise Mediterranean coast. Overall, travel and tourism contributed to the Italian GDP by over 190 billion euros in 2022, remaining three percent lower than in 2019, the year prior to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Similarly, these industries’ total contribution to employment declined by roughly five percent over the same period, with travel and tourism directly and indirectly supporting around 2.7 million jobs in 2022. That year, leisure tourists accounted for the highest share of travel and tourism spending in Italy, while business travelers represented just over 16 percent of the expenditure.

What are the leading inbound travel markets in Italy?

After shrinking with the onset of the health crisis, the total number of international tourist arrivals in Italy bounced back in 2022, reaching nearly 75 million. That said, this figure, which includes overnight and same-day travelers, remained significantly below pre-pandemic levels. When focusing on overnight travelers, Germany emerged as the leading inbound tourism market in Italy based on arrivals, ahead of France and Austria. While Germany also ranked as the leading inbound travel market in Italy based on tourist spending, the United States reported the second-highest figure in that case, followed by France and the United Kingdom.

What are Italians’ preferred travel destinations?

As inbound tourism in Italy showed strong signs of recovery in 2022 but did not catch up with pre-pandemic levels, the total number of outbound travelers from Italy followed a similar trend. When breaking down the outbound trips from Italy by country, Spain took the top spot in the ranking, with nearly 1.8 million trips by Italian travelers in 2022. Other three Mediterranean destinations – France, Croatia, and Greece – followed on the list that year. Moving from outbound to domestic travel, Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany were the Italian regions with the highest number of domestic overnight stays in 2022, with more than 26 million nights each. Other popular domestic destinations that year included the Southern regions of Apulia, Sicily, and Campania.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by Statista Research Department, Jan 10, 2024

Key insights

Total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in Italy
194bn EUR
Share of leisure spending out of total travel and tourism spending in Italy
84%
Travel and tourism's total contribution to employment in Italy
2.7m jobs
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Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Number of international tourist arrivals in Italy from 2019 to 2022, by country of origin (in millions)

Travel, Tourism & Hospitality

International tourist arrivals in Italy 2019-2022, by country

Total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in Italy in 2019 and 2022 (in billion euros)

Travel, Tourism & Hospitality

Travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP in Italy 2019-2022

Number of international tourist arrivals in Italy from January 2018 to January 2024 (in 1,000s)

Travel, Tourism & Hospitality

Monthly number of international tourist arrivals in Italy 2018-2024

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Travel and tourism in France
Travel and tourism in Greece
Travel and tourism in Greece
Museums in Italy
Museums in Italy

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