Tourism in Italy: fewer arrivals but more stays in the second quarter of 2026

MILAN – Fewer tourists, but longer stays. This is the photograph that comes from the new Istat data on tourism. In the second quarter of 2026, tourist flows, compared to the same quarter of 2025, recorded a slight decrease in arrivals (-0.8%), compared to an increase in presences of 3.9%. A figure that apparently goes against the trend given that the former photograph the number of travellers, the latter the number of nights spent.

In the period considered, the complex of accommodation establishments recorded just under 47 million arrivals and almost 148 million tourist presences. Furthermore, according to Istat, the foreign component stands at 61.6% of the total presences, representing the majority share of tourist flows. Compared to 2025, the presence of foreign tourists in the second quarter increased by 4.6%, while the increase in Italian customers was more limited (+2.7%).

Furthermore, compared to 2025, the most significant changes in presences were recorded in May: +6.4% for Italian tourists and +10.1% for foreign tourists respectively (+8.8% total). The hotel sector recorded 27.6 million arrivals and 77.6 million presences. The non-hotel sector - also considering accommodation in houses and apartments rented for short periods for tourist purposes and managed both in a business and non-business way - contributed with over 19.3 million arrivals and approximately 70.3 million presences.