Rome was the Italian municipality recording the highest number of overnight stays in travel accommodation establishments in 2023. That year, tourist overnight stays in Rome exceeded 37 million, exceeding pre-pandemic levels. Venice and Milan followed in the ranking in 2023, with around 12.6 million and 12.5 million overnight stays, respectively.

In 2024, the archaeological park of the Colosseum in Rome was the most visited museum in Italy, with 14.7 million visitors. This figure, the highest reported to date by the renowned attraction, represented a 20 percent annual increase in attendance. The Uffizi Galleries in Florence and the archaeological site of Pompeii followed in the ranking that year, with 5.3 million and 4.3 million visitors, respectively. How much income do museums in Italy generate? The Colosseum, the Uffizi Galleries, and Pompeii were also the tourist attractions with the highest income in Italy in 2024, ahead of the Gallery of the Academy in Florence and the Pantheon in Rome. Overall, the income of state museums and similar institutions in Italy totaled over 380 million euros that year, reaching an all-time high. How many tourists visit Italy every year? Italy's rich cultural heritage, as well as its renowned landscapes and cuisine, are key drivers of tourism, making the country one of the most popular travel destinations in the world. In 2023, Italy placed fourth in a ranking of countries with the highest number of inbound tourist arrivals worldwide, with almost 60 million inbound tourist arrivals.

Rome is the most populous city in Italy. With 2.75 million inhabitants, the capital of the country put ahead Milan and Naples. Compared to the number of citizens in 2012, the resident population of Rome increased by over 140,000 individuals. Regional data Rome is located in the center of Italy in the Lazio region. Lazio is the second-largest region in terms of population size after Lombardy. In 2024, the region counts roughly 5.7 million inhabitants, whereas Lombardy has over ten million individuals. The third-largest region is Campania, with 5.6 million people. Naples, the major center of Campania, has around 910,000 inhabitants at the beginning of 2024. Nevertheless, this city was, back in the 19th century, one of the largest cities in Western Europe. Tourism in Rome The Eternal City is also the main tourist destination in Italy and was the eighth most-visited city in Europe. The largest groups of international visitors in Rome came from the United States of America, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Every year, more and more tourists also enjoy the best-known tourist attractions in Rome, like the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and the Palatine Hill, which together recorded almost ten million visitors in 2022.

The number of international tourist arrivals in Europe rose significantly in 2023 compared to the previous year across all the most visited destinations in the region. Overall, France was the most visited country by inbound travelers in Europe in 2023. That year, France - which also topped the ranking of the countries with the highest number of international tourist arrivals worldwide - reported *** million international tourist arrivals, the highest figure recorded by the destination to date. Spain, Italy, and Turkey followed on the list in 2023. Europe is the most popular region for inbound tourism Europe is the region with the highest number of inbound tourism arrivals worldwide, with over *** million arrivals in 2023. Comparatively, there were nearly *** million international tourist arrivals in Asia and the Pacific, the second-most visited global region by inbound travelers that year. When breaking down the number of inbound arrivals in Europe by sub-region, Southern and Mediterranean countries reported the highest figures, both before and after the impact of COVID-19. Travel & Tourism Development Index France and Spain, among the most popular travel destinations in Europe in terms of inbound arrivals, were also among the leading countries in the Travel & Tourism Development Index (TTDI). The TTDI index measures factors and policies that support a sustainable and resilient development of travel and tourism worldwide. In 2023, Spain ranked first with a TTDI score of ****, followed by France and Germany.

Between September 2022 and August 2023, the Colosseum in Rome was the Italian tourist attraction with the highest online content volume. Over the period considered, the famous archaeological site in the Italian capital was mentioned in nearly 59 thousand online pieces of content, such as reviews or social media posts. Among the attractions with the highest content volume, Pisa's Piazza del Duomo recorded the highest sentiment score, at 95.2 out of 100.

In 2015, Dubai was the city with the highest number of tourists staying at least one night per capita. That same year, international overnight visitor spending in Dubai reached 28.5 billion US dollars. The city, which is the largest and most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, was also one of the most expensive holiday destinations in the world in 2018. In 2016, 14.87 million people visited Dubai from abroad.

Europe and Asia: top destinations

According to the source, most of the 20 tourist cities with the highest number of visitor arrivals per capita were Asian or European cities. After Dubai, Amsterdam and Prague were the second and third cities with the greatest number of tourists spending at least one night per capita. With respectively, 2.7 and 2.5 visitors per capita, the two European cities were followed by another one: London. Singapore, ranked fifth with 2.1 visitors per capita, was the first Asian city in the list. Thus, New-York the first North American city of this ranking was 17th. It appears that Europe remains one of the most popular tourist destinations. Asia was also a very attractive destinations for international visitors with Hong-Kong being the leading city destination in 2017.

Focus on tourism in Europe

Since the nineties, the number of international tourist arrivals in Europe keeps increasing. France is the European country with the largest number of international visitors’ arrivals, while Spain and Italy are also two of the leading tourist destinations on the continent. Travel and tourism have an important contribution to GDP in Europe, reaching 781.6 billion US dollar and 2018 and expected to attain 991.4 billion in 2028.

In 2023, London was the leading European city tourism destination based on the number of bed nights. That year, bed nights in the United Kingdom's capital exceeded 78 million, denoting a sharp annual increase but not fully recovering yet from the impact of COVID-19. Meanwhile, Paris and Istanbul followed in the ranking in 2023, with roughly 52 million and nearly 30 million bed nights. What are the most visited countries in Europe? While the French capital came in second among leading European cities based on bed nights, France topped the ranking of the European countries with the highest number of inbound tourist arrivals in 2023, ahead of Spain, Italy, and Turkey. Meanwhile, when looking at European countries with the highest tourism receipts that year, Spain recorded the highest figure, with over 90 billion U.S. dollars, followed by the United Kingdom. How many international tourists visit Europe every year? In 2023, the number of international tourist arrivals in Europe grew significantly over the previous year, totaling over 700 million. This figure, however, remained below pre-pandemic levels. Overall, either before and after the impact of COVID-19, Europe was the region with the highest number of international tourist arrivals worldwide.

The number of tourist arrivals in the Italian region of Sicily increased significantly in 2023 over the previous year, recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, Palermo was the province with the highest volume of arrivals in 2023, with the combined number of international and domestic arrivals totaling 5.5 million that year. Palermo was also the province with the highest number of tourist overnight stays in Sicily in 2023.

Revenue in the Tour Operators industry in Europe is anticipated to grow at a compound annual rate of 13.5% to €69 billion over the five years through 2025. The decline in revenue for much of the period is predominantly due to the damage the COVID-19 outbreak inflicted on the travel sector over the two years through 2022. Customers were unable to travel abroad or domestically. Since restrictions were eased (at different intervals across different countries), holiday numbers have increased both domestically and internationally, which has seen an influx in bookings for European tour operators. Travel in Europe was 6.2% higher in 2024 than its pre-pandemic 2019 level, as recorded by the European Travel Commission, and many Europeans have sought advice and booked tours to travel to their dream destinations. Revenge travel was a trend tour operators became quickly accustomed to, with customers hungry for trips after being locked in for so long during the COVID-19 outbreak. Whilst high inflation in recent years has curbed demand with people’s pockets squeezed, savings during COVID-19 and people’s prioritisation of travel as their luxury purchase has kept bookings high. People are still booking lots of trips in 2025, but are looking for value for money. This is raising bookings in lesser frequented countries, which is encouraging tour operators to offer more packages in new countries to offer budget getaways for price sensitive customers. As a result, tour operator’s revenue is set to grow 0.3% in 2025. The weather continues to dictate seasonal demand, despite an uptick in off-season holidays, and destinations that tour operators target for trips, whilst geopolitical tensions have customers wanting the protection of booking through a travel operator. Revenue is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 4.6% over the five years through 2030 to €86.2 billion. Tour operators will continue to benefit from the growing travel industry, with people keen to travel for once-in-a-lifetime trips, city breaks, walking tours, culinary hotspots and beach retreats. Tour operators that give their customers more flexibility and the ability to book at the last minute will see significant demand as Europeans opt to travel at the last minute to reduce the risk of cancellations and airport strikes. Operators will face the challenge of adjusting packages, deals and holiday destinations to suit changing preferences. Sustainable travel tours are a growing market as travellers aim to travel more responsibly and lessen the environmental impact of tourism, which will encourage more operators to appeal to the environmentally conscious traveller.

In 2023, Russia was the leading inbound travel market for Turkey based on the volume of tourist arrivals, reaching over *** million visitors. Germany and the United Kingdom followed on the list, with approximately *** and *** million arrivals, respectively. One of the most popular destinations in Europe With hundreds of beaches, mountains, nature, and historical sites in various cities, Turkey has plenty of activities to offer to tourists. Consequently, the country attracts millions of visitors every year. In 2023, following Italy, Turkey ranked fourth among the most popular destinations in Europe, having welcomed over ** million travelers. That year, Turkey’s inbound tourism receipts amounted to **** billion U.S. dollars, which placed the country fifth among other European destinations. Inbound tourism in Turkey The country saw a sharp decrease in the number of inbound tourist arrivals in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. However, from 2022 onwards, the figures caught up with the pre-pandemic levels. In 2023, over ** million international tourists visited Turkey, which was the peak value recorded since 2000. In the same year, the vast majority of foreign travelers arrived in Turkey with the purpose of travel, entertainment, sport, or cultural activities. Furthermore, about *** million foreigners visited their relatives and friends in Turkey.

In 2024, the number of tourist arrivals in Venice, including international and domestic visitors, reached nearly *** million. This figure, the highest reported over the period considered, represented an annual increase in tourist arrivals of roughly **** percent. How many international tourists visit Venice? In 2024, the number of international tourist arrivals in Venice exceeded **** million, showing the key role played by inbound visitors for the city's travel and tourism industries. That year, the United States was by far the leading inbound tourist market for Venice, with over *** million arrivals. How many hotels are there in Venice? In 2023, there were approximately ***** hotels in Venice, denoting a slight annual decline. Considering the popularity of the destination, it does not surprise that Venice was the most expensive Italian city based on the average price per night in a four-star hotel in 2024, ahead of Florence.

Florence, the famous Italian city, was the best-rated European city by readers of a U.S. travel magazine in 2024, scoring 90.55 out of 100 points. Funchal, in the Portuguese island of Madeira, ranked second with 89.82 points.

This statistic shows the top 16 Italian municipalities with the highest revenues from tourist tax on hotels, bed and breakfasts and campsites in 2016. According to the study, Rome was the Italian city that collected the highest revenue from the tourist tax (over 126 million euro). This was three times as much as the tourist tax revenue in Milan (41 million euro) and four times the figure for Florence (30 million euro).

In 2024, Venice was by far the province in the Italian region of Veneto with the highest number of visitors to state museums, monuments, and archaeological sites. That year, state cultural institutions in this province recorded almost 990,000 visitors. In 2024, the number of visitors to state museums, monuments, and archaeological areas in Veneto increased slightly over the previous year.

The number of international tourist arrivals worldwide rose sharply in 2023 compared to the previous year across all the most visited destinations in the world. Overall, France was the most visited country by inbound travelers worldwide in 2023, with *** million international tourist arrivals. Spain, the United States, and Italy followed in the ranking that year. Has global inbound tourism recovered from the impact of COVID-19? In 2023, the number of international tourist arrivals worldwide totaled approximately *** billion. While this figure represented a ** percent annual increase, it remained below the peak in inbound tourist arrivals reported in 2019, the year before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. That said, international tourism receipts worldwide exceeded pre-pandemic levels in 2023, peaking at *** trillion U.S. dollars. What are the most popular global regions for inbound tourism? When breaking down the number of international tourist arrivals worldwide by region, Europe has consistently reported the highest volume of inbound travelers, both before and after the impact of the health crisis. In 2023, this region alone accounted for roughly ** percent of global inbound tourist arrivals. Meanwhile, Asia and the Pacific recorded the second-highest number of inbound tourist arrivals worldwide in 2023.

Where do Italians prefer to travel? In 2023, most Italian travelers visited the North of the country, with visits to that region accounting for 38 percent of all trips that year. Meanwhile, trips to European Union countries represented around 14 percent of all journeys in 2023. When focusing on holiday trips, the seaside emerged as the preferred leisure holiday destination among Italians. Most Italians preferred to autonomously book their travels Direct booking was the most popular method used by Italians to organize their trips in 2023. Overall, online direct bookings for transport made up over 60 percent of transactions, whereas direct booking of accommodation from offline channels represented approximately 22 percent of reservations. Hotels are the preferred travel accommodation In 2023, most Italian travelers preferred to stay in hotels, with trips including hotel stays making up nearly 38 percent of all visits. That year, homes of relatives and friends followed as the second most popular choice, representing just under 30 percent of journeys. By contrast, just roughly six percent of trips included an overnight stay in a holiday home owned by the traveler.

In 2019, an overall of 10,861,071 tourists visited the Metropolitan city of Milan, in Italy. According to the data, most travelers visiting the city were males (6.2 million tourists).

In a survey conducted by BVA in 2015, most of French people chose New York City as the foreign city they would like to visit on holiday. The Big Apple remains popular in France, despite being one of the most expensive holiday destinations in the world in 2018. New York City’s famous architecture, as well as the Statue of Liberty or Central Park, keep attracting thousands of French who want to discover the city that never sleeps.

The French dream of distant cities

It appears that when it comes to popular foreign cities, French tourists seem to have a clear preference for cities which are far from home. In this ranking, New York was followed by Sydney and Montreal. This trend follows another a ranking from 2015 about the most attractive countries for holiday. According to the French, the United States was ranked first, before Canada and Australia. However, the French are still able to dream of their European neighbors. Florence, Barcelona and Rome were among the most popular cities according to French tourists. Mediterranean countries like Spain, Italy or Portugal were also among the destinations French people considered going to for summer holidays. Proximity, organization and price explain why, even if the French dream of holidays on the other side of the world, they tend to spend their holidays in Europe or even in their own country.

Reasons for travelling in France when you are French

Some regions in France, because of their pleasant living environment or their closeness to the sea, are among the most popular for French tourists. Corsica, Brittany and Provence-Alpes Côte d’Azur are three very famous tourist destinations in the country. It also seems that French tourists like to spend their holidays with family of friends, which could explain why most French people plan holiday trips in their own country.

According to 2024 estimates, the Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican City receives on average around 11 million visitors per year. This made it the most visited religious site in Italy among the selected destinations as of that year. The Sanctuary of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina in the town of San Giovanni Rotondo in Apulia followed in the ranking, with an estimated 5.6 million annual visitors.

Italy - the history, the landscapes, the food, and wine, all tourist magnets. No wonder, Italy is one of the German's most favorite vacation destinations. In 2024, around 6.66 million Germans have spent their vacation enjoying the beautiful cities and Mediterranean coast of this country. When in Rome Italy remained in the top five among destination countries German travelers flew to in 2024, alongside other popular tourism markets such as Spain and Turkey. With Italy, like other European countries, also being in the throes of economic difficulties after the onset of the global energy crisis and in additionally struggling with its own national inflation levels, the tourism infrastructure suffers as well. German tourists grappling with the same issues at home may find themselves able to afford less even if they do go on a trip, therefore ending up with a more restricted version of an Italian getaway than they might have been used to before. As of 2023, on average, a German tourist in Italy spent around 1,326 euros during their vacation. Coming back Despite ongoing challenges, Germans still made up the largest share of international tourist arrivals in Italy as of 2023, followed by France and Austria. That same year, Germany also accounted for the highest international tourist spending at over eight billion euros total. The U.S. followed with almost 6.5 billion euros spent and the U.K. with roughly 4.5 billion euros.