Ottawa – Italy continues to rank among the most popular destinations for international tourists, including during the winter season. The country stands out for its ability to meet a wide range of travel expectations: art cities, mountain resorts and Christmas markets are among the most sought-after experiences for European travelers, alongside food and wine tourism, historic villages, luxury travel and roots tourism, which are especially popular among overseas visitors.
These findings emerge from ENIT’s latest monitoring report on the holiday period covering Christmas, New Year’s Eve and Epiphany. The survey offers an overview of organized tourism flows from Italy’s main inbound markets and is based on data from 13 foreign countries and numerous tour operators.
For the 2025–26 holiday season, sales for Italy have increased in 46.8% of cases, rising to 50% within EU countries. Long-haul travel to Italian destinations is also growing, according to 43.8% of operators, driven mainly by the United States, Canada, Mexico and Asian markets.
Italy’s appeal is further confirmed by recent analyses from the Ministry of Tourism. Between December 30, 2025 and January 7, 2026, the average occupancy rate of Italian accommodation facilities reached 47.8%, marking an increase of 2.6 percentage points compared to the same period the previous year. Italy thus holds the European lead, ahead of its main competitors, which did not exceed an average occupancy rate of 47% during the same timeframe. This trend highlights both strong overall performance and growing international competitiveness, placing Italy ahead of destinations such as Greece, Spain and France.
In particular, the Aosta Valley recorded an occupancy rate of 66.72%, ranking first nationwide for accommodation use during the period analyzed. It was followed by the Autonomous Province of Trento (66.04%) and the Autonomous Province of Bolzano (64.35%), confirming the strong appeal of Alpine destinations for winter tourism and ski-related activities.
Noteworthy results were also observed outside the Alpine regions. Umbria recorded an occupancy rate of 56.03%, while Abruzzo reached 51.5%.
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