Sustainable tourism

Veneto villas antidote to overtourism, the system is worth 630 million

A diffuse heritage: 53.6 per cent is located in municipalities with less than 20,000 inhabitants with 29,800 employees

2 May 2026

Una foto di Villa Trissino, Vicenza. ANSA

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

The system
Numbers and impact
Agriculture and Opportunities

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

A natural antidote to the phenomenon of over-ourism. In a tourism system characterised by a high concentration - with 75% of arrivals distributed over just 13% of the national territory and with the Province of Venice accounting for only 0.8% of the Italian surface area but receiving around 8% of total tourist arrivals - the Ville Venete are proposed to promote a more widespread and sustainable tourism.

The system

There are a total of 4,243 villas surveyed in the Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia regions, which were built between the 15th and 18th centuries and are now widely distributed throughout the territory. According to the study "Ville Venete Re-Birth", carried out by TEHA and promoted by the Association for Venetian Villas, presented at the "1st National Forum on Heritage Tourism and Unesco Heritage, Ville Venete Re-Thinking", the system as a whole generates over 360 million euro in turnover and 210 million euro in direct added value, which becomes about 630 million euro (again in terms of added value, i.e. production value minus intermediate consumption costs) considering the indirect and induced effects along the economic chain.

53.6% of the villas are located in municipalities with less than 20,000 inhabitants: of these, almost 30% are located in municipalities with less than 5,000 inhabitants and 13.4% in municipalities with less than 2,000 inhabitants. The territorial distribution shows a higher concentration in the provinces of Treviso (21%), Vicenza (18%), Verona (18%) and Padua (17%).

Numbers and impact

The analysis measures the economic and social contribution of this heritage in a systemic way, introducing the concept of the 'GDP of beauty': a wealth born from the integration of culture, territory and production activities.

The more than 4,000 villas surveyed in Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia were built between the 15th and 18th centuries. In economic terms, the most relevant figure is the multiplier effect: for every euro of added value generated by the Villas, a further two are generated in the rest of the economy, with a multiplier effect of three. This reflects the territorial rootedness of the activities connected to the Villas, which tend to involve local skills, services and enterprises, reinforcing their ability to retain value in the area.

The impact is also reflected in terms of employment. The Ville Venete directly employ about 13,690 people, which becomes almost 29,800 when considering the allied industries, with a multiplier effect of more than 2.2 times. They also provide skilled employment, highly specialised professional figures, contributing to the operational continuity of restorers, craftsmen, maintenance workers and heritage management professionals. Lastly, a further role emerges: 57% of those active, perform at least one social function, testifying to a strong openness towards the community and a valorisation of heritage that goes beyond the private or strictly economic dimension.

Agriculture and Opportunities

According to TEHA's estimates, in 2025, the cultural activity villas hosted 2.8 million visitors, of which 1.3 million were paying visitors, 20% international tourists and 1.5 million non-paying visitors of which 25% international.

Agricultural production is the dominant component of the economy of the Ville Venete (followed by event production and hospitality) with 60% of the turnover generated amounting to approximately 216 million euro. Within agricultural production, a leading role is played by the wine sector: about 1,400 hectares of vineyards generate over 170 million euro in turnover. The wineries linked to the Ville Venete also show a marked international vocation, with about 60% of production destined for export, a figure significantly higher than the national average.

Alongside the opportunities, the research identifies some critical issues and directions for development, highlighted by TEHA. Management sustainability represents one of the main challenges: the ordinary maintenance of a Villa, in 2025, averaged more than 110 thousand euro per year, to which must be added about 143 thousand euro of extraordinary interventions in the last decade. A second theme concerns the Villas in a state of partial or complete abandonment, about 1,577 of them, which represent an unexpressed economic potential. This is accompanied by the complexity of the protection restrictions, which affect about 89% of the properties, and the need to strengthen the positioning and visibility of the system.