Towards a record winter season, the best ever
Growth driven by arrivals from abroad. Direct expenditure of EUR 14.8 billion expected
by E.N.
It will be a record winter season, the best ever. This is according to Demoskopica's forecasts, which foresee the arrival in ski resorts of around 30 million enthusiasts in the coming months, with over 93 million presences that will feed a direct tourist expenditure of 14.8 billion euros. The 'fuel' for this growth is related to arrivals from abroad expected to increase by 21% compared to last year and by 34.3% compared to 2019, which was the best in the pre covid era. From across the border, 14.4 million guests are expected while overnight stays will be almost 52 million with a 53% leap over 2019 and almost 29% over last season.
The high cost of skiing weighs heavily on the pockets of Italians and here we see the negative signs. In absolute terms, 15.3 million compatriots will choose the mountains with a -1.7% on 2025 with stable presences and a -5.1% on 2019 arrivals but an encouraging +1.9% on 2019 presences.
"The dynamics of winter holiday choice," Demoskopika researchers comment, "consolidates the strong attractiveness of Italy for tourists from across the border. International demand is growing considerably and is driving the entire sector. The Belpaese continues to be chosen by foreigners for the quality of services and the growing experiential variety of the tourist offer. On the opposite front, the domestic market is showing signs of slowing down, probably conditioned by a greater prudence on the part of Italians in their tourist consumption behaviour. Many families, for example, choose shorter periods, last-minute bookings or alternative modes not always recorded in official statistics. In this context - continue the Demoskopika researchers - a 'double
speed'.
The tourism expenditure analysed by Demoskopica includes the following items: accommodation services, restaurant services, transport services (rail, road, sea, air), vehicle rental, travel agency services and other booking services, cultural services, sports and recreational services, shopping and other expenditure. Specifically, for 2025 and 2026, a per capita holiday expenditure has been estimated respectively
