Inflation is weighing on the Italian winter season, which is risking a drop in overall tourist spending. According to the most recent data processed by the Demoskopika research institute, the coming months should in fact see a drop in arrivals: just over 23.2 million and almost 72 million overnight stays. A slump of 6.1% and 0.4% respectively compared to the same period last year, which had 25 million arrivals and just under 72.2 million overnight stays. There will also be repercussions on tourist spending which is expected to be cut by more than €1.3 billion.
There are numerous reasons for this, including price trends, with tourism inflation estimated to show a tendential growth of 1.8%, for an inflationary differential equal to one percent more than the change in the general index calculated by ISTAT at 0.8%. Yet inbound tourism is substantially stable compared to last season with +0.5% arrivals and -0.6% overnight stays. The problem is that over 60% of international visitors are concentrated in just a few regions, with Veneto and Lazio at the top of the pile.
"One of the things that must be done to avoid a backslide,- suggests Demoskopika president Raffaele Rio, - is a more adequate and strategic distribution of visitors over the entire country, increasing the level of internationalization and reducing overtourism.”
So while it is true that Italy has a fair balance between Italian (51.4%) and foreign (48.6%) arrivals, the majority of international tourists head mainly to only six of Italy’s 20 regions: Veneto (64.3%), Lazio (62.1%), Trentino Alto Adige (55.7%), Tuscany (54.2%), Lombardy (54%) and Friuli Venezia Giulia (52.5%).
Massimiliano Sarti
Journalist
