For ENIT the Italian national tourist board, the United Kingdom represents a key international market for Italian tourism, and in recent years it has seen a significant trend of recovery and growth.
Increases in overnight stays and expenditure
Since last year, there has been a sustained increase in both the number of UK travellers choosing Italy (+32.5%), which exceed 6.2 million, and in overnight stays, which total over 34.7 million (+15.9%), for average stays of over 5.5 nights. The growth in expenditure, which stands at €4 million 536 million, a +27.2% rise over 2022, represents the core of this market's deep and diversified interest in what Italy has to offer tourists. Some 52.4% of overnight stays and 63% of expenditure are motivated by leisure holidays, with 26.2% of nights spent visiting family and relatives and accounting for 16.8% of total expenditure, to which should be added around 5% of nights spent visiting friends. Seven per cent of the overnights, totalling 10% of expenditure, were for occasional trips, while 6.5% of the overnights were for study trips, accounting for 2.2% or some €100 million in expenditure.
Culture and art cities dominate
A further €43.4 million was spent on honeymoons, amounting to 205,000 overnight stays.
Almost half of the chosen destinations are related to occasional trips. Among the planned itineraries, cultural locations and the art cities dominate, with a share of 31.5% of the total number of overnight stays - around 11 million - and as much as 37.4% of tourist expenditure, amounting to €1.7 billion. This is followed by seaside destinations, which, with over 4.3 million overnight stays and €600 million in tourist expenditure, account for 12.5% and 13.2% respectively. Lake resorts with 937,000 overnight stays and €231.2 million of expenditure are on the podium as the third type of stay preferred by the British market.
Mountain and green tourism choices are popular
Among the more niche choices, mountain holidays count 697,000 overnight stays and an expenditure of €132.5 million. These are followed by green tourism, with over 591,000 overnight stays and €92 million spent (a 50% rise on last year). Amongst the motivational niches, food and wine trips account for 274,000 overnight stays and over €39 million in tourist spending, with sports holidays counting 153,000 overnight stays and generating €23.3 million.
