Over 19 million will leave for the Christmas holidays

The gift is the journey. If the destination is in the mountains, all the better. This is the thought shared by over 19 million Italians ready to leave for the Christmas holidays compared to just over 16 million last year. An increase close to 20% according to forecasts by Federturismo Confindustria released yesterday.

Positive results and Daniela Santanchè, Minister of Tourism, commenting on Istat data on the sector, speaks of "record numbers in 2025 with almost 480 million presences for Italian tourism, which sees a +3% increase over 2024" in addition to overtaking France. Arrivals from abroad have reached a share of 55% of total flows with +4% and the tourism balance of payments registers a record surplus of +19.6 billion euro (+7% on 2024), and international spending of 46.4 billion euro (+4.9%).

The most popular destination in the wake of the Winter Olympics is the Alpine arc. Among the many ski resorts, the Dolomites area shines with Cortina d'Ampezzo recording a boom in requests from foreign tourists and the young Generation Z, the digital natives. According to Federturismo Confindustria's forecasts, another destination heading for a sell-out is Trentino - Alto Adige, with its snow-covered slopes, traditions and Christmas markets. The trend of bookings for cities of art is positive: Milan, Naples, Rome and Florence where the average occupancy rate of hotel rooms is around 78%. International customers, especially Americans, as well as French, Spanish and Asians, chose the days between New Year's Eve and Epiphany and will stay between 3 and 5 nights. For the Capital, in particular, arrivals are expected to be +20% over last year.

A small proportion of Italians booked their holidays well in advance: 70% of bookings are made 60 to 90 days before departure to take advantage of the benefits of advance booking including better prices, greater choice and quality of services. Among those going abroad, the range of long-haul destinations chosen include Thailand and the Maldives flanked by Kenya, Zanzibar and the United States with a 10% increase, recorded by our tour operators, for departures at the beginning of January. While for compatriots who do not want to give up the sea without undertaking major travel, the Red Sea, Oman and Dubai remain in vogue.