Design Week, for a flat up to 4,700 euro

Short-term rental fees that can double and hotel rooms that can cost up to 1,300 euros per night. This is the other side of a great event that generates an exceptional economic spin-off in the area, amounting to almost 255 million euros in a single week, benefiting above all the sectors linked to accommodation and catering, according to estimates by Confcommercio Milano the 2026 edition.

The Salone del Mobile and Design Week are not only a driving force for the furniture industry, but also for the entire economy of the Milanese city and its territory. It is an engine of business, knowledge, culture and skills, which reaches its peak during the days of the event, but which operates and generates value all year round and includes schools and universities, design and graphics studios, media and communication agencies, and public and private cultural institutions.

For the past two years, the Salone del Mobile itself has promoted an Observatory to quantify this value, entrusting the Politecnico di Milano with the production of an annual report ('Ecosistema Design') that brings together and analyses, integrating, the many data produced separately by different subjects.

Among the most relevant aspects is certainly the impact of tourism: during Milan Design Week 2025, 412,500 overnight stays were recorded in the City of Milan. The airports of Malpensa, Linate and Orio al Serio handled almost 1.2 million passengers (+5.3% compared to 2024), while the underground network recorded an average of 1.3 million admissions per day, the highest value of the year. Xcc-Mastercard's Geospending platform also found that the week of the exhibition represents the annual peak in spending through digital payments.

All this also has a distorting effect on the average prices of some services, starting with accommodation costs. According to OTA data from the D/AI Destinations platform, in the city of Milan, during the week of the event, hotel rates fluctuated between 145 euro (minimum) and 3,641 euro (maximum), with increases of up to 88.7% for the minimum rates of five-star hotels and up to 129.56% for the maximum rates of two-star hotels compared to the same week in 2024, not affected by the event. Similar dynamics for houses and flats, with increases between 59% for maximum rates and 77.41% for minimum rates.