250,000 tourists arrived in February to watch the Olympics

Olympics effect on tourism, but without hitting the mark. Around 250,000 non-resident travellers visited Italia to attend the Winter Olympics. This was reported by the Bank of Italy in its monthly survey on international tourism, according to which "the expenditure of foreign travellers who would not have come to Italia in the absence of the Olympics is estimated at almost 400 million (13% of the total revenue for February 2026). "This amount is substantially analogous to the increase in expenditure recorded with respect to the same month in 2025," reports the Central Institute, which notes that a further 50,000 foreign travellers would have arrived even in the absence of the event but still attended some events. Lombardy recorded the largest inflow, followed by Veneto and Trentino. Italy's balance of payments for tourism therefore recorded a surplus of 700 million euro, an increase compared to the same month in 2025; tourism revenues (3 billion) grew by 14.7 per cent and expenditure (2.3 billion) by 1.6 per cent.

In other words, when the facts are put to the test, BankItalia's figures are a far cry from the forecasts when, before the start of the Games, more than one million visitors were expected with a 160% increase in travellers, arrivals driven mainly by the American and German markets. Lombardy estimated about 2 million more tourists, with a strong economic impact quantified at about 5.3 billion euro.

In terms of flows in the quarter December 2025 - February 2026, tourist spending saw a surge from almost 4% at the end of the year to 8% in February, the best value since April 2025. Arrivals from the EU contributed most to this growth.