In 2014 worldwide, the number of international travelers increased by 4,3%, while tourism revenues increased by 3,7% compared to the previous year. Europe represents the main macro area for the number of incoming and outgoing tourists, 50% of the total, while it is overtaken by the United States in terms of revenues ($177,2 billion) and China in terms of spending by international tourists ( $164,9 billion). In Italy, 2014 recorded an increase in arrivals of 2,7%. Italians have resumed moving within national borders, bringing the number of travelers back to growth (+2,6%), after the decline in 2012-13. About 37% of Italian tourists prefer cities of historical and artistic interest, while 33% prefer seaside resorts. The spas and lakes, on the other hand, are not very popular with Italian tourists (4,5% each).
Lombardy is the region that attracts the largest number of tourists (12% of the total). The flow of foreign tourists to Italy, in line with the world trend, has started to grow again after the crisis, (+25% since 2009) bringing Italy to 5th place in the world for number of arrivals. Cities of historical and artistic interest attract more than 50% of foreign tourists, lake resorts more than double the value relating to domestic tourism (10%). The region most visited by foreigners is Veneto, which absorbs 20% of the total, followed by Lombardy, Tuscany and Lazio (about 13% each).
A fifth of all international tourists arriving in Italy come from Germany, followed by the United States (9%) and France (7,8%). The first data on 2015 confirm the positive momentum of tourism in Italy, both as regards the foreign component (+3,2%) and the national one (+0,8%). Of the 48 million tourists arriving in the first 5 months of the year, 23 million are foreigners. While the number of tourists increases, the number of nights spent on average in Italy decreases by almost 1,6% compared to the same period in 2014.
Attachments: Focus no. 37 – 02 November 2015.pdf
