Foreign tourism in Italy is heading toward a new record this year, with annual spending by foreigners approaching €40 billion, a report from the Bank of Italy shows. The study will be presented today in Venice during the annual conference organised with the Ciset research center of the Cà Foscari University.

Between 2013 and 2015, the total moved from little more than €33 billion to €36.7 billion, and 2017 has begun with a further increase of around 1%, but estimates for the full year foresee that a new historical peak is within reach. Last year, tourism generated €14.3 billion in monetary income. Overall the Bank of Italy did a census of 52.7 million foreign tourists who stayed overnight in Italy in 2016 and in January 2017 there was a further 8.7% increase in arrivals.