Tourism: spending by foreign visitors rises by 9 per cent. Spain and Turkey perform particularly well
Data from the Mastercard Observatory: overseas spending accounts for 61 per cent of total expenditure
Foreign travellers are once again proving to be the driving force behind growth in tourism spending for the summer of 2026: according to data from the regional tourism observatory of Mastercard, between May and August this figure rose by 9 per cent compared with the same period (May–August) last year, accounting for 61 per cent of the total. This trend is driven by rising visitor numbers from certain countries: whilst German tourists continue to represent the largest group, within the EU Spain stands out (+32 per cent) and, globally, Turkey (+25 per cent) and Australia (+25 per cent).
At a regional level, Lombardy and Veneto are the regions most affected by international travel flows, whilst in the south, Campania, Sicily and Sardinia stand out in particular.
According to Luca Corti, Mastercard’s Country Manager for Italy, “Italia has once again demonstrated its extraordinary ability to attract visitors from all over the world. At Mastercard, we are committed to harnessing innovation and technology to support this appeal.”
The Weight of the Villages
International tourists are drawn not only to major destinations but also to smaller towns: during the summer four-month period, tourist spending in these villages accounted for 8 per cent of total national spending, with the international component close to the overall average. The widespread growth of tourism outside the traditional tourist circuit “can help stem the depopulation of inland areas”, emphasises Fiorello Primi, president of Italia’s Most Beautiful Villages, the association founded in 2002 with the aim of promoting small towns with fewer than 15,000 inhabitants, which now has 382 members.
“Overall, we represent 1.5 million inhabitants, with the number of beds set to rise by 17 per cent in 2025, amounting to 300,000. In 2025, arrivals totalled 7 million (+6 per cent) and overnight stays 22 million (+3 per cent), whilst the number of foreign visitors rose by 7 per cent.” The influx of tourists into small towns is helping to revive businesses, thereby stemming the demographic crisis in inland areas.
