Tourism, foreigners spend more and more: over 60 billion euro in 2025

"Tourism creates jobs, attracts investment, is an extraordinary generator of wealth and well-being, 13% GDP as far as Italy is concerned. Its value goes well beyond the economic side, it tells what we do best, it allows us to promote our values, it describes and relaunches our lifestyle. It is one of the main tools with which the Italian people speak to the world about their identity, make it known and be admired'. It was with these words that Premier Giorgia Meloni welcomed the audience of one thousand delegates gathered in Rome for the annual summit of the World Travel&Tourism Council (Wttc), the global body representing the private travel and tourism sector. "This is the first time that this summit has been held in Italy," the Prime Minister stressed, "and I like to think that it is an acknowledgement of the strength and prestige of the Italian tourism sector, but also an acknowledgement of this government's commitment to supporting one of the world's most dynamic and strategic industries, the most valuable for the Italian economy.

Meloni recalled that the government is 'using the resources of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan to upgrade the tourism offer, enabling small and medium-sized enterprises in particular, which are a fundamental part of the Italian economy, to improve accommodation facilities and thus offer a better experience'. Then there are the numbers to boast about: 'With almost 58 million international arrivals we are in fifth place in the global ranking of the most visited countries and we are about to climb another position,' currently held by Turkey at 60.6 million arrivals. France (102 million) and Spain (93.8 million), in first and second place respectively, remain out of reach at the moment.

The forecasts for Italy are positive. According to the Wttc Economic Impact report, the contribution of tourism to GDP is growing, rising from 228.5 billion euro last year to 237.4 billion in 2025 (+3.9%), as is the expenditure of international visitors, which is expected to exceed 60 billion euro (according to the Bank of Italy's findings last year it was 54.2 billion). Capital investments are also on the rise: in 2024 there were 11.4 billion, this year there will be 12 billion. Finally, employment is expected to rise to 3.2 million.

'Hosting so many representatives of foreign states and so many stakeholders in Rome,' said Tourism Minister Daniela Santanchè, 'offers a unique opportunity to foster public-private synergies, which are essential for investments in a high-potential sector like tourism. And in this I give you one certainty: the government will play its part by creating the best conditions for companies to flourish'. When it comes to tourism there are recurring themes. One is short rentals on which the government has intervened with the introduction of the Cin (National Identification Code), which will be mandatory at the end of 2023. "I never have any certainty that everything we do is definitive,' clarified the Minister of Tourism. 'We have done this first measure, we study the numbers and if there is something to be done again, we are ready to do it but without ideologies and without wanting to pull tourism by the jacket left or right.

 The other inevitable topic is overtourism on which, however, Santanchè reiterates that 'there is a part of Italy, and to be exact 96% of our national territory, that tourists have yet to get to know and it is precisely on this part of our territory that we are working and it is on this part that those who know how to read its potential will be able to make investments and create successful companies'. For Enit CEO Ivana Jelinic too, "we must no longer talk about overtourism but make sure we help the territories to maintain those numbers and work to avoid creating situations of intolerance". In the meantime, just yesterday the tourism councillors of five cities - Rome, Milan, Florence, Venice and Naples (all administered by the centre-left except for the Serenissima) - wrote to Minister Santanchè to support "together new projects for sustainable flow management" because "17% of the tourist presences in Italy are concentrated in our cities, we need continuity of resources and a shared vision for the future of sustainable tourism"..