Italy is among the most popular destinations for summer 2025
With 27 million tourists touching down
• Almost 19 million international airport arrivals and 8 million+ in domestic flows are expected
• The latest ENIT surveys show a growth rate of nearly 18% in demand to travel to Italy
• 10.6 million international arrivals are already booked, with a turnover exceeding 10 billion euros, in addition to holiday spending
• The United Kingdom, the United States and Germany are the main markets choosing Italy for holidays
• Jelinic: “Italy is a popular and sought-after destination at global level”. Santanchè: “Italy is once again more desirable than France for the 2025 summer season. We are working to do even better”
Rome, 12 June 2025. Italy is confirmed as one of the most popular destinations among foreign tourists this summer season. ENIT forecasts, in fact, confirm a big demand for holidays in Italy, with 18.6 million airport passengers arriving from abroad .
The first results from ENIT monitoring indicate a strong growth in demand, marking a 17.9% increase in requests (in line with the trend already observed during the recent Easter holidays, recorded at +17.6% compared to 2024). These estimates place Italy second in the special world ranking of most popular holiday destinations, ahead of Turkey and France (and just behind Spain). In terms of domestic flows, Italy is on the third step of the podium with 8.4 million airport passengers, ahead of France and preceded by Turkey and Spain.
27 million tourists are therefore expected this summer across international and domestic travel.
In terms of destinations, international flows will be concentrated in the North (7.7 million), followed by those in Central Italy (5.5 million) and then the South (5.4 million), which also has the greatest domestic airport passenger turnout (around 5.4 million).
Between June and September, more than 10.6 million international airport tourists have already booked incoming stays (+4.6% compared to last year), for a consolidated turnover of over 10 billion euros, in addition to expenditure in Italy during their time here. These considerable figures add up to 8.6 million airport tourists in the first five months of the year (+1.5% on 2024), peaking in April at 2.3 million arrivals. The top three markets choosing to spend their summer holidays in Italy are the United Kingdom (1.6 million arrivals: 15% of the total), the United States (1.2 million arrivals: 10.9% of the total) and Germany (1 million arrivals: 9.8% of the total) .
1 - Source: ENIT Research Department based on Forwardkeys data
2 -The study, conducted through ENIT’s foreign network, is based on findings from interviews with major foreign Tour Operators selling Italian destinations in 20 European and overseas markets
3 - Source: ENIT Research Department based on ENIT foreign offices data - Survey of Tour Operators, May 2025
4 - Source: ENIT Research Department based on Forwardkeys data
“These numbers are the truest indicator of our potential. Italy is a sought-after destination the world over, from North to South, thanks to the quantity and quality of experiences we have to offer. This positive data contributes to the growth of Italy’s localities and the entire tourism sector, increasingly a driving force for the socio-economic development of our country. For almost three years under this government’s leadership, we have worked tirelessly with the Minister, and these results are tangible evidence of our achievements”, says Ivana Jelinic, CEO of ENIT.
“ENIT surveys also herald a healthy summer for Italian tourism. In particular, after surpassing France in terms of tourist turnout in 2024, summer 2025 will also see us prevail over this historic competitor, both as most sought-after summer destination and in terms of domestic flows. While we are satisfied with these results, however, we continue to look to the future and must work to make these results not merely structural but a foundation for even better outcomes. Our goal remains to further increase the sector’s competitiveness and stability by adopting long-term policies, as the Meloni government and the Ministry of Tourism are already doing”, says Tourism Minister Daniela Santanchè.
Italy’s most bustling airports include Rome Fiumicino (4.6 million total airport passengers), Milan Malpensa (3.1 million) and Naples Capodichino (2.1 million), also set to be the three busiest this Italian summer season. These are followed by Catania (2 million), Venice (1.7 million), Bergamo (1.3 million), Bologna (1.1 million), Bari (1.1 million) and Florence (600 thousand). Flows to Sicilian airports are particularly strong, with Catania scoring 2 million (in total expected airport arrivals) and Palermo 1.6 million.