Italian tourism is gaining growing international appeal. This is obvious from the 2024 forecast data processed by the Florence-based Tourism Studies Centre for Assoturismo Confesercenti. According to the report, The Italian travel industry is expected to maintain its growth trajectory in 2024, with a 2.5% rise in visitor numbers compared to the previous year, for a total of 458.5 million overnight stays. And it looks as if foreign visitors are driving the market's performance, with their arrivals up by 6.3% to 72.1 million, while projections for overnights seem to have risen by 7.4% to 251.5 million.
After a prolonged period of slowdown domestic tourism, which is likely tied to reduced purchasing power, is projected to end with an estimated 2.8% decline in overnight stays. and a minus 2.9% in arrivals, bringing total figures to 207 million and 63.8 million respectively. Over the course of the year the Italian economy has in fact shown some signs of slowing down, linked in particular to inflationary dynamics and the consequent increase in prices, especially in the services sector, not only in Italy but also in the world’s leading destinations.
In this scenario Italy’s tourism sector has demonstrated strong resilience, bolstered specifically by international visitors. Growth was more or less evenly distributed among the various macro-areas, with the exception of the North-East, which was slightly below average. Regarding the trends in various types of tourism products, only seaside and spa tourism have shown slower growth. A more consistent increase is estimated for the lakes (+6.5%), countryside and hills (+5.8%), art cities (+3.6%) and mountains (+2.5%), while those destinations categorized as "other interest" experienced a slight decline (-0.5%).
Massimiliano Sarti
Journalist
