Tourists in Italy spent €39.6 billion in 2017 an increase of 6.5% – more than 50% higher than the world average growth of 4.3%, according to major new research released today by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).

Overall, the total contribution of Travel & Tourism to the Italian economy was €223.2 billion in 2017, once all the direct, indirect and induced benefits were taken into account. This means that 13% of the entire Italian economy is dependent in some way on Travel & Tourism.

Other highlights of the report released today show:

Travel & Tourism supported 3.4 million jobs in 2017 (14.7% of total Italian employment)
By 2028 almost 4 million jobs in Italy are forecast to be dependent on Travel & Tourism
The travel sector grew by 2.7% in 2017, compared to growth of 1.6% in the wider economy
Italy is the 6th largest travel economy in the world

Gloria Guevara, President & CEO, WTTC, said “Travel & Tourism creates jobs, drives economic growth and helps build better societies. This is particularly the case in Italy which has some of the world’s most famous tourism sites. I commend the Italian government and private sector for their management of the tourism economy – achieving growth 50% than the world average last year – which has enormous potential to create Italian jobs and to be part of the regeneration of the Italian economy.”

“Globally, 2017 was one of the strongest years of GDP growth in a decade. Our sector now supports one in ten jobs on the plant and contributes 10% of global GDP. Over the past ten years, one in five of all jobs created across the world has been in the sector and, with the right support from Governments, nearly 100 million new jobs could be created over the decade ahead.”