International tourism

Banca d'Italia has been conducting since 1996 a survey on international tourism primarily to collect information for compiling the 'Travel' item (which includes goods and services acquired from an economy by non-residents during visits to that economy) and the 'Passenger transport services' item in Italy's balance of payments, in line with the methodological conventions laid out in the sixth edition of the IMF's manual (BPM6). The survey is based on interviews and counts of resident and non-resident travellers at the Italian borders (road and rail crossings, international ports and airports); it is integrated with administrative data and, since end-2020, with mobile phone data, where available.

The survey also serves as a useful database for operators in the tourism sector and researchers, thanks to the wide range of analytical data provided alongside those gathered strictly for balance of payment requirements. The data are available on this website both in aggregate form and as microdata.

Monthly brief on international tourism

Last May, Italy's tourism balance of payments recorded a surplus of €2.7 billion, slightly up compared with the same month in 2025. Both spending by foreign travellers in Italy (€5.4 billion) and spending by Italian travellers abroad (€2.7 billion) increased compared with May 2025, by 4.3 per cent and 2.2 per cent, respectively.

For the three-month period ending in May 2026, inbound tourism expenditure increased by 2.3 per cent compared with the same period of the previous year, while outbound expenditure remained broadly stable (Figure 1). The increase in spending by foreign travellers in Italy was significantly stronger among visitors from EU countries than among those from outside the EU (4.1 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively; Figure 2, left-hand panel). Spending by Italian travellers abroad increased for trips to EU destinations (3.0 per cent) while it declined for non-EU destinations (-2.7 per cent; Figure 2, right-hand panel).

Fig. 1 - Italy's inbound and outbound tourism expenditure
(3-month moving averages; year-on-year percentage changes)

Italy's inbound and outbound tourism expenditure - Fig. 1

Fig. 2 - Italy's inbound and outbound tourism expenditure by geographical area
(3-month moving averages; year-on-year percentage changes)

Italy's inbound and outbound tourism expenditure by geographical area - Fig. 2

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