ANSA Economia24 minutes agoBusiness2 min readItalyView original

MiTur, Italy confirms itself as a leader in Europe, with almost 99 million visitors in August

Italy surpasses France and Spain with 98.8 million visitors. International tourism and average length of stay are growing.

tourism Italy ministry of tourism

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Italy confirms its European tourism leadership in August 2026 with 98.8 million presences (+3.3%).
Minister Mazzi underlines the success of government policies, while the international attractiveness and satisfaction of travelers is growing.

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Why It Matters

Italy is positioned as the first tourist destination in Europe, surpassing the main European competitors in August 2026.

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Italy confirms itself as the first tourist destination in Europe. In August 2026, based on the monthly infographic on the trend of tourism in Italy by the statistics office of the Ministry of Tourism, 22.4 million arrivals and 98.8 million presences were recorded, with a growth in presences of +3.3% compared to August 2025 and an increase in the average stay to 4.4 nights (+3.0%).

Tourists not only choose Italy, but they stay longer.

The international component is growing: 47.1 million foreign visitors, +6.8%, equal to 47.7% of the total.

And domestic tourism is also growing, with 51.7 million visitors, equal to 52.3% of the total. The European comparison, source Eurostat, is clear. In August, Italy, with 98.8 million visitors, ranks first among competitor countries, ahead of France (89.6 million), Spain (75.0 million), Germany (53.8 million) and Greece (34.7 million). Italian growth of +3.3% is higher than that of Greece (+2.1%) and Spain (+0.5%), while Germany (-1.2%) and France (-1.8%) even recorded a decline.

"The record 2026 tourism data demonstrates that the Meloni government's commitment to quality, deseasonalisation and development is producing real results: more presences and longer stays for tourists who love Italy", declares Tourism Minister Gianmarco Mazzi.

Traveler sentiment in August 2026 reaches 85.5/100, up compared to 2025, on approximately 4.6 million digital tracks analyzed. The most satisfied tourists come from the United States, Poland, Canada and Hungary, all above 87 points. The highest sentiment is recorded for Attractions (87.7), Short-term rentals (87.3) and Venues and Catering (85.8). Among the regions, the highest values are recorded in the Autonomous Province of Bolzano (87.7), in Basilicata (87.1), in Umbria (87.0) and in the Autonomous Province of Trento (86.9). Airports are flying, especially in the South. International traffic represents 70.4% of the total, with around 18.1 million passengers (+5.7%), while domestic traffic grows by 6.0%. The greatest increases were recorded in the South (+9.9%) and in the North-East (+8.5%), supported above all by international growth.

As of October 2026, the Accommodation Structures Database of the Ministry of Tourism records 734,873 structures, of which 657,442 with verified CIN, equal to 89.5% of the total. Tuscany is the region with the highest concentration of structures (83,112), followed by Lombardy (79,750), Lazio (72,480) and Veneto (65,923). Also in October, the OTA saturation rate stood at 56.7%, +3.2% compared to the same period in 2025: a clear signal of demand that remains very strong even in periods beyond the high season.