Mazzi, 'in September Italy will be first in Europe for saturation'

"In the month of September, Italy has the highest Online Travel Agency saturation index - which is the booking rate compared to the availability of rooms or accommodation on the largest international tourism platforms. Consider that we are first in Europe. It has a rate of over 62% in the month of September, which is a very explanatory figure because this is helping us to deseasonalize. And we are ahead of everyone, but what is most extraordinary is that we are well over ten points ahead of France and Spain.

So it is a truly extraordinary moment for tourism and we must be able to consolidate it. I also want to read something that struck me, because it seems to be the opposite: now I see an ANSA that says 'Dolomites taken by storm': they clearly cite Asian overtourism, driven by TV and social media. I am now doing an initiative, which I will present at the Rome Film Festival, linked precisely to film tourism." Tourism Minister Gianmarco Mazzi says this while speaking at the Confesercenti Forum in Piazza del Popolo in Rome in front of the national president Nico Gronchi and the president of Assoturismo Vittorio Messina.

Mazzi then recalls the record numbers of 2025 "with 535 million 500 thousand tourist presences and a total expenditure of 185 billion". "And 2026 consolidates this positive trend. Spending by foreign travelers in the first eight months rose to 16 billion and 200 thousand euros, +5% on the same period in 2025.

A growth rate more than six times higher than that recorded a year ago. The role of local commerce and businesses is fundamental. Every activity that lights up a square, every company that invests in the territory, every service offered to citizens and visitors contributes to making a destination more attractive and welcoming. Because there is no quality tourism without lively, dynamic communities capable of creating relationships. We are achieving Italy's success thanks to our cities, villages, local productions, artistic and cultural heritage, and our traditions or rather the country system, capable of making that extraordinary variety of tourist experiences possible", he underlines.