In 2025, open-air tourism in Italy exceeded 11.2 million arrivals and came close to 74 million overnight stays, with an average stay of 6.6 nights per guest and a total turnover, including indirect economic impact, of more than €8 billion.
The question now is whether summer 2026 will be able to confirm this positive trend. The first figures point to stability, but above all they highlight a new element: the lakes are the surprise of the season. From Lake Garda to Lake Iseo and Lake Como, campsites and holiday parks are attracting new customers, with an increase in bookings from abroad and a substantial maintenance of Italian bookings compared with summer 2025.
This is the picture that emerges from a survey carried out by Questlab on behalf of FAITA Federcamping on a representative sample of around 200 Italian campsites and holiday parks. First of all, the study confirms that the sector has reached a certain degree of stability after the continuous growth recorded up to 2025. Germans and Italians remain the main users of open-air accommodation facilities, followed by Dutch, French, Swiss and Austrian visitors. However, the number of tourists from Poland, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom and the Scandinavian countries is also increasing.
“2026 is shaping up to be the year of the lakes in Northern Italy, of the consolidation of the positive results achieved in previous years in Central and Southern Italy, and of local tourism throughout the country, also driven by the current geopolitical uncertainty,” explains Alberto Granzotto, President of FAITA Federcamping and Vice-President of Confturismo-Confcommercio. “The June bank holiday period marked the beginning of a clearly growing trend compared with 2025 in all destinations, showing that the investments made, particularly by medium and large-sized facilities, in sustainability and service quality are paying off”.
Germany remains the leading foreign market, while Italians are on the rise
Looking at the different geographical areas, Lombardy is showing particularly encouraging results, especially around Lakes Como and Lecco, where camping tourism continues to grow thanks to increasing flows of Italian visitors and the loyalty of traditional markets such as Germany, Switzerland and Austria, alongside new arrivals from Eastern Europe, particularly Poland and the Czech Republic.
In the North-East, which includes Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia, the average occupancy rate recorded between mid-June and early November reaches 57.1%. There is a slight decline compared with 2025, but it is entirely attributable to the postponement of German public holidays, which affected June bookings (Germany remains the leading source market), while the rest of the season remains in line with the previous year. July is actually showing an improvement, with bungalows and mobile homes reaching occupancy rates of 84%. Two other noteworthy trends are the growth of the Italian market and the strong preference among Northern European tourists for longer stays.
Trentino is also recording very positive signs. The spring holiday periods, particularly Easter and the May Day holiday, achieved occupancy levels close to full capacity, with a provincial average of 90% at the beginning of May. Here too, Germany remains the leading foreign market, followed by a particularly dynamic Italian market. While the lakes continue to drive the season, with more than half of the accommodation units already sold, mountain destinations are also showing significant growth compared with 2025.
In Emilia-Romagna, forecasts for the summer are favourable: Italian demand remains stable and foreign demand, particularly from Germany, is slightly increasing. However, the trend worth highlighting is the renewed interest in pitches, which coincides with rising campervan sales and the resulting demand for larger spaces. Finally, those choosing campsites and holiday parks in the region continue to favour long stays, with an average duration of around ten nights.
Tuscany confirms its position as one of the most sought-after destinations for open-air tourism. More than 7 million overnight stays are expected in the region’s campsites and holiday parks in 2026. After growth of 2.2% during the first five months of the year, the summer quarter is also expected to close with an increase, driven mainly by the Italian market, which accounts for more than 60% of demand, but also supported by foreign visitors.
The season has also started positively in the rest of the country: from Abruzzo to Sicily, despite some territorial differences, the first figures broadly confirm the positive results recorded in 2025. Common features include growing demand for mobile homes, a clientele made up mainly of Italian families, and greater attention to spending, which translates into shorter average stays than those recorded in Northern Italian destinations.
Photo: Paolo Galvani
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