Tourism continues to be one of the most affected sectors by the coronavirus pandemic in Italy. However, when it comes to international tourism, spending by foreign travellers in Italy is on the rise and the situation of cross-border tourism is improving. This is what the latest data from the Bank of Italy's (Banca d'Italia) international tourism report says.
In May 2021, the balance of the tourism balance of payments recorded a surplus of 34 million, compared to a positive balance of 78 million in the same month of the previous year and a surplus of 2,072 million in May 2019. Compared to May 2020, spending by foreign travellers in Italy increased by 62.4 per cent (775 million euros, from 477 million euros); spending by Italian travellers abroad increased by 85.9 per cent (from 398 million euros to 741 million euros); both figures however remain at levels well below those recorded in 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic.
In the 3 months leading up to May 2021, spending by foreign travellers in Italy increased by 36.4 per cent compared to the same period in the previous year, while spending by Italian travellers abroad increased by 57.8 per cent. In comparison with the corresponding period in 2019, prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a contraction of 83.4 per cent in spending by foreign travellers in Italy.
