Italy is the third most popular country in Europe they drop around thirty billion pounds in the process. As you might expect, tourism is a vital part of the Italian economy.
But with most European nations still recovering from the global recession, Italy has experienced a sharp decline in revenues from tourism. According to recent reports, the industry was off by about ten percent in 2008-2009. What can they do about it? Not much, unfortunately.
Tourist cities like Rome, Florence, Milan and Venice have reported steep declines. But again, there is not must that the can be done. Since around three-quarters of the tourists that come to Italy are from Europe, the economy will inevitably have an impact, especially on Rome travel and vacation accommodations .
Rome is easily the most popular tourist city in Italy. More than six million guests come to the Eternal City each year. This makes it the third most popular destination for travellers, after London and Paris.
Of course, people still need a place to stay when they come to Rome, so the decline in tourist dollars for the hotels will not break them. However, the decrease in arrivals has had a profound effect on the holiday rental market. These rooms are owned by ordinary people who rent them out to tourists as furnished apartments. But as the number of tourist continues to decline, they simply do not have the power, money or influence to compete for guests with the large hotels.