In terms of international tourist arrivals, Italy is the fifth-largest destination in the world. The appeal of the country lies with a handful of iconic destinations, including Rome, Florence, Venice, Pisa and the Tuscan countryside, which act as the main draw for the majority of tourists each year. Domestic tourism is also significant, although these tourists are attracted to different parts of the country, in particular the south – essentially any part of the country south of Naples, and Sicily.

Despite the importance of tourism in Italy, data measuring the sector are relatively sparse, with seemingly more focus on domestic and outbound tourism than inbound tourism. Also, the reporting procedures for measuring tourism in the country appear to be slow, and consequently there is a large time lag between the period that the data relates to, and the date of its publication. Nevertheless, it is undisputed that only France, the US, China and Spain receive more tourists than Italy, and it sits well ahead of the UK in sixth place.

Country Reports are tourism profiles of destination countries.

This report is produced by one of a global network of industry analysts, who provide market-based information as well as detailed, insightful and localised interpretation of the facts and figures.

Each profile contains information on:

Tourist arrivals - overnights and expenditure

Purpose of visit - business, leisure or VFR

Accommodation supply - operating performance

Tourism policy - management

Transport - access and infrastructure

Tourism funding - promotion and future development