Between March and May, Italy lost over 80 million tourists

In recent days, ISTAT, the Italian statistical institute, has released data that give an idea of ​​the impact Covid-19 had on the tourism industry. Based on the information collected by CST (Conto Satellite per il Turismo), which from a statistical point of view is the internationally recognized and recommended tool for assessing the economic dimension of the tourism industry, it is estimated that the sector, in 2015, worth about 6% of the value added of the Italian economy, for a total of 88k million Euros. ISTAT is now preparing new estimates for 2017, which will be available shortly, but it already appears that this value should be substantially unchanged.

The Institute then indicates that in the quarter March-May 2019, approximately 81 million tourist presences were recorded in Italy, equal to 18.5% of the annual total. And considering that the season has basically wiped out with the beginning of March, this is roughly the figure that we will lose during the same period of 2020.

In the Spring season, foreign customers are more represented than in the rest of the year, with 56% of the presences. The annual average is slightly above 50 percent, a figure that makes Italy the second European country, after Spain, with the highest number of foreign visitors. In 2019, the total expenditure of foreign travelers in Italy reached about 44.3k million Euros, while in the quarter March-May this value was equal to 9.4k million Euros. This year, in the same period, the total spending by foreign travelers is expected to be practically zero.

Of the 88k million reported at the beginning as the maximum value of the tourism industry, the hospitality sector recorded in 2017 a value of 25.6k million Euros, created by over 52.000 companies. About 2.000 of them are classified “in the outdoor living sector”.