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Italy’s Luxury Hotels Generate €10.4 Billion In Tourist Spending

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

November 10, 2026

Luxury tourism is becoming an increasingly important contributor to Italy’s economy. In 2025, five-star and five-star luxury hotels generated an estimated €10.4 billion in direct tourist spending, accounting for 17.3% of the hotel sector’s total turnover of more than €60 billion. Spending per overnight stay was also significantly higher: €702 at luxury hotels, compared with €209 across the hotel sector as a whole.

The figures come from a Demoskopika study previewed by ANSA. They point to a segment growing much faster than Italian hospitality overall. Between 2008 and 2025, overnight stays in luxury hotels increased by 111.1%, while the figure for all hotel establishments rose by 14.5%.

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Five-star properties recorded nearly 14.9 million overnight stays and more than 4.9 million arrivals in 2025. Compared with 2024, arrivals grew by 5% and overnight stays by 5.7%. The growth highlights the importance of international visitors with higher spending power, but also reveals how concentrated luxury tourism remains geographically.

Rome Leads Italy’s Concentrated Luxury Tourism Market

Demoskopika’s Elite Index (Exclusive Luxury & International Tourism Evaluation) identifies Lazio, Trentino-Alto Adige, Campania, Valle d’Aosta and Sardinia among Italy’s leading regions for luxury tourism.

Lazio generated the highest estimated direct spending, at €2.3 billion in 2025, or 21.7% of the national total. Trentino-Alto Adige followed with €1.7 billion, ahead of Veneto (€1.4 billion), Lombardy (€1.3 billion) and Tuscany (€1 billion).

At provincial level, Rome accounted for 19.7% of all overnight stays in five-star hotels. Together, Rome, Bolzano, Venice, Florence and Milan represented 53.4% of the national total. Across the 17 leading luxury destinations identified by the study, the share reached 79.2%.

The geographical concentration is also reflected in hotel supply. Twenty-five Italian provinces have no five-star properties. In 2025, Italy had 809 hotels in this category, 38 more than a year earlier, offering nearly 110,000 beds. Despite the growth, five-star hotels account for just 4.8% of the country’s total hotel capacity.

Italy Competes For Europe’s High-Spending Travellers

Italy’s luxury tourism growth comes amid intensifying competition for international visitors. The country remains one of Europe’s largest tourism markets by volume, recording approximately 535 million overnight stays across all accommodation types in 2025, according to Eurostat. Spain followed with 513 million, France with 472 million and Germany with 440 million. Together, the four countries accounted for more than 60% of all overnight stays in the EU.

Measured against population, however, Spain recorded 10.4 overnight stays per resident, compared with 9.1 in Italy and 6.9 in France. This suggests Italy has room to increase the value generated per visitor and attract more high-end stays.

Investment data underline the competition. A 2025 European hotel-market report by BNP Paribas Real Estate found that Spain, the UK, France and Italy together accounted for more than half of European hotel investment. Italy attracted around €1.8 billion, or 9% of the European total, compared with €3.3 billion in Spain (16.4%) and 14.9% in France. The UK led the group with €4 billion.

Hotel performance also points to stronger demand at the higher end of the market. European revenue per available room (RevPAR) increased by 3.8% in the upscale segment in 2025, while budget hotels recorded a 1.9% decline. The gap suggests that demand for higher-end accommodation has been more resilient, despite continued pressure on household purchasing power.

Extending Luxury Tourism Beyond Peak Season

The economic benefits of luxury tourism remain unevenly distributed. According to Demoskopika, 11 international markets account for 62.2% of foreign overnight stays in Italian hotels: Germany, the United States, the UK, France, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia and Japan.

Visitors from these countries are estimated to have generated €21.4 billion in turnover across all hotel categories in 2025, including different components of tourist spending. Germany was the largest contributor at €6.39 billion, followed by the United States at €4.69 billion.

Demoskopika identifies opportunities beyond expanding the number of luxury hotels. Better use of existing capacity and a longer operating season could help spread the benefits more widely. Occupancy at high-end properties remains below the national average of 37.1%, particularly in southern Italy, where accommodation supply is newer or more seasonal.

Improved transport connections, supporting services and efforts to reduce seasonality will be important in extending luxury tourism beyond established art cities and resort destinations. Italy is already attracting high-spending travellers, but its next challenge is to turn that demand into more consistent economic benefits across regions and throughout the year.

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EU Services Production Grows As Information And Communication Lead

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

November 10, 2026

Services production continued to expand across the European Union in August 2026, with information and communication recording the strongest annual growth. However, performance varied significantly between industries and member states, while Cyprus reported a mixed picture, with business services expanding and hospitality-related activities declining.

Information And Communication Leads Sector Growth

Compared with August 2025, services production increased by 5.9% in the euro area and 5.8% across the EU in information and communication. Transportation and storage also recorded growth, rising by 2.1% and 1.9%, respectively.

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Real estate activities increased by 1.6% in the euro area and 1.1% in the EU. Professional, scientific and technical activities grew by 1% in both areas, while administrative and support services advanced by 1.1% and 1.3%.

Accommodation and food services was the only major sector to record an annual decline, falling by 0.1% in both the euro area and the EU.

The monthly figures were more mixed. Information and communication remained the strongest performer, increasing by 1.2% in the euro area and 1% across the EU. Real estate activities rose by 0.4% and 0.9%, respectively, while transportation and storage edged up 0.1% in the euro area but declined by 0.2% in the EU.

Administrative and support services recorded modest gains of 0.2% in the euro area and 0.1% in the EU. Accommodation and food services fell by 0.3% and 0.4%, while professional, scientific and technical activities declined by 0.8% and 0.9%, respectively.

Slovakia And Greece Record Strongest Annual Growth

Romania recorded the largest monthly increase in services production, at 5.2%, followed by Malta at 1.8% and Portugal at 1.7%. Luxembourg experienced the steepest decline, with output falling by 5.1%, followed by Bulgaria at 2.3% and Denmark at 1.9%.

On an annual basis, Slovakia led with growth of 10%, followed by Greece at 9.3% and Malta at 7.5%. Hungary recorded the weakest performance, with services production declining by 5.6%. Denmark fell by 5.3%, while Italy recorded a smaller decrease of 0.3%.

Cyprus Sees Growth In Business Services But Weakness In Hospitality

Cyprus’ latest figures show a similar divide between expanding business services and weaker hospitality-related activities. According to the Statistical Service of Cyprus (Cystat), professional, scientific and technical activities recorded the strongest annual growth among the covered sectors in the second quarter of 2026, increasing by 3.4%.

Transportation and storage and information and communication both grew by 2.1%, while real estate activities rose by 1.6%. In contrast, accommodation and food services declined by 3.1% year on year, and administrative and support services fell by 2.2%.

First-half results were more favourable for several sectors. Between January and June, professional, scientific and technical activities grew by 3.5%, transportation and storage by 2.8%, real estate by 2.1% and information and communication by 1.3%.

Nevertheless, administrative and support services contracted by 1% over the six-month period, while accommodation and food services declined by 0.7%.

How Cyprus’ Figures Differ From Eurostat’s Data

The Eurostat and Cystat figures measure different aspects of economic activity and are not directly comparable. Eurostat’s services production index tracks changes in the volume of output, whereas Cystat’s Turnover Value Index for Services and Transport measures the value of sales at current prices.

The reporting periods also differ: Eurostat’s figures cover August, while the cited Cypriot data relate to the second quarter and first half of 2026.

Cystat transmits services production data to Eurostat but does not yet publish a separate national production index. Turnover figures therefore remain the main publicly available national indicator for the sector.

Taken together, the data point to continued growth in several of Cyprus’ business-oriented services, alongside persistent pressure on accommodation, food and administrative support activities.