Summer 2025, sharp increase (+18%) of passengers arriving at Italian airports
As many as 27 million tourists are expected, almost 19 million of whom come from abroad. Spending on hotel bookings is more than 10 billion
by Enrico Netti
3' min read
3' min read
The best summer of the third millennium. This is the key figure that emerges from Enit forecasts on airport arrivals in the summer of 2025, with as many as 27 million tourists arriving, a sharp +18% over the previous year. Of these, almost 19 million come from flights from abroad, plus more than 8 million passengers who will use domestic flights, connections from Northern Italy to the beaches of the Peninsula. This is said by the Enit monitoring data that show a strong growth in demand with a 17.9% increase in requests, a figure in line with the trend already seen during the last Easter holidays that saw a +17.6% compared to 2024. Estimates that place Italy in second place in the special world ranking of the most popular holiday destinations, ahead of Turkey and France and just behind Spain, which is firmly in first place in international rankings. As regards internal flows, instead, the Bel Paese is on the third step of the podium with 8.4 million airport passengers, ahead of France and preceded by Turkey and Spain.
In terms of hotel bookings already made, between June and September there will be more than 10.6 million international airport tourist arrivals staying +4.6% compared to last year, equal to a consolidated turnover of more than 10 billion to which will be added the other expenses, including those for catering, transport, leisure purchases, trade, gadgets and souvenirs, in the territories during their stay. Numbers that add up to 8.6 million airport tourists in the first five months of the year, +1.5% on 2024, with a peak in April of 2.3 million arrivals. To be recorded among the main markets that choose our country to spend their summer holidays, in the top three positions: United Kingdom (1.6 million arrivals, 15% of the total), United States (1.2 million arrivals, 10.9% of the total) and Germany (one million arrivals, 9.8% of the total) .
"Enit surveys predict a healthy summer for Italian tourism," says Daniela Santanchè, Minister of Tourism. In particular, after surpassing France in terms of tourist presences, in 2024, the fine season of 2025 sees us prevail over this historic competitor both in terms of the most desired summer destination and in terms of internal flows. Satisfied by these results, however, we look beyond, forward: we must work to make these results not only structural, but the starting point for doing even better. The objective remains that of further increasing the competitiveness and stability of the sector, adopting long-term policies, as the Meloni government and the Ministry of Tourism are already doing'.
Among the airports with the highest passenger volumes are Rome Fiumicino with 4.6 million passengers in total, Milan Malpensa (3.1 million) and Naples Capodichino (2.1 million). These will be the three busiest airports of the Italian summer. They are followed by Catania (2 million), Venice (1.7 million), Bergamo (1.3 million), Bologna (1.1 million), Bari (1.1 million) and Florence (600 thousand). The flows towards the Sicilian airports stand out, with Catania scoring 2 million (in the total of expected airport arrivals) and Palermo 1.6 million. A key role in these flows is played by the low cost carriers that bring millions of tourists from Northern Italy and Northern Europe to the South. For example, easyJet, at Olbia airport this summer will bring over 500,000 tourists to Sardinia thanks to a network of over 16 pan-European connections to the Costa Smeralda. Carriers such as Neos, Delta, United, and American Airlines also increased the number of connections from the USA to Sicily, Apulia, Naples, and Venice.
"The numbers are the best testimony to the potential we have. Italy is a destination that is coveted and in demand all over the world, from North to South, thanks to the quantity and quality of experiences that we are able to offer. Positive data that contribute to the growth of the territories and the entire tourism sector, which is increasingly a driving force for the socio-economic development of our country. For almost three years under the leadership of this government, we have been working tirelessly with the minister and these results are concrete proof of the goodness of our work," commented Ivana Jelinic, Enit's CEO.
