Tourism: from record visitor numbers to its impact on GDP – a blueprint for the future in Rome

The event takes place at 11.00 am today, Saturday 17 October, at the Temple of Venus at the Colosseum: ‘Because Italia’s economy is built on tourism! A Manifesto for the Future’, an initiative promoted by the Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with *Il Sole 24 Ore*, bringing together institutions, businesses, industry professionals and local communities to discuss the present and build a shared vision for the future of Italian tourism.

The event will be opened by the Minister for Tourism, Gianmarco Mazzi, followed by a series of speeches in which representatives of organisations, institutions and businesses directly or indirectly involved in the tourism sector will take turns on stage; the proceedings will be concluded by the Head of the Cabinet at the Ministry of Tourism, Erika Guerri, the Chief Executive of ENIT S.p.A. Ivana Jelinic, the adviser to the Minister for Tourism, Gianluca Caramanna, and the Chief Executive of the Il Sole 24 Ore Group, Federico Silvestri. Video messages from Alberto Angela and a number of artists are also planned.

The event will serve to highlight the cross-cutting nature of the sector and its strategic value for the country, with the aim of drafting a shared ‘manifesto’ for the future of the tourism ecosystem. Tourism accounts for between 13 per cent and 18 per cent of GDP, taking into account direct, indirect and induced effects.

In 2025, Italia recorded 535.5 million visitor arrivals, ranking first in the EU for total visitor arrivals and overtaking Spain, accounting for around one-fifth of the total European market. For 2026 as a whole, forecasts estimate that international tourist spending will rise by 8 per cent compared with 2025, amounting to an additional 4.4 billion euros