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Italy’s tourism sector rapidly rebounds from COVID 19 pandemic

 Wednesday, July 19, 2023

Italy’s Travel & Tourism sector is rapidly rebounding from the pandemic, the World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) 2023 Economic Impact Research (EIR) reveals.

According to the study, the industry will contribute €194 billion to the Italian economy this year, which is within 3% of the pre-pandemic high.

WTTC also predicts that the industry will add more than 65,000 employment this year, bringing the total number of jobs lost due to the COVID 19 pandemic to reach almost 2.8MN.

Last year, the travel and tourism sector’s GDP contribution increased by 33.4% to more than €194 billion, accounting for 10.2% of the Italian economy and getting closer to the 2019 high of €200.5 billion.

Last year, the industry added 315,000 employments compared to the previous year, bringing the total number of jobs in Italy to 2.7 million, or one in every nine.

Of the 477,000 jobs lost during the epidemic, the industry has since regained 334,000.

Last year also witnessed a resurgence of foreign visitors to Italy, with spending from abroad visitors increasing 99.3% to over €42BN, only 11% below 2019 levels.

The Travel & Tourism sector is an important contributor to the Italian economy.

The sector’s strong recovery is great news for jobs and prosperity across Italy as international visitors return.

Over the next ten years they expect tourism to grow to represent 12 % of the Italian GDP, Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO said.

According to the global tourism body, the industry will provide about €237 billion to the Italian economy by 2033, accounting for nearly 12% of the Italian economy, and will employ over 3.3 million people across the nation, accounting for one in every seven Italians.

The European Travel & Tourism sector provided €1.9TN to the regional economy in 2022, barely 7% less than in 2019.

According to WTTC, the region’s GDP contribution from the industry will reach €2.04TN in 2023, close to the 2019 highpoint.

In 2022, the industry employed 34.8 million people across the area, up 2.9 million from the previous year but still 3.2 million short of the high in 2019.

WTTC predicts that by the end of 2024, the industry will have fully recovered the employment lost during the epidemic.