Visitors from Italy

1. Executive summary 2022

In 2022, Italy was Scotland’s ninth largest international source market measured by number of visits. It was ninth by expenditure and by number of nights.

Italian visitors accounted for 3% of all overseas visits to Scotland and 2% of all overseas spend in Scotland in 2022.

2022 saw a lower return than previous pre-pandemic years as many Italians favoured domestic tourism.

The average spend per trip in 2022 was £645. The average spend per night was £91.

The average length of stay was 7.1 nights, a fall from pre-pandemic levels of 8.8 nights. This maybe due to a decrease in visits to see friends and family which tend to last longer than holiday visits.

View more graphs and charts on tourismobservatory.scot.

Source: IPS, 2022

2. VisitBritain MIDAS research 2022

In 2022, our partner, VisitBritain undertook comprehensive research with international leisure travellers. They spoke to global tourists from many markets, including Italy.

Whilst the research focuses on perceptions and experiences of Britain, there are insights which are useful for the Scottish tourism industry.

Southern European tourists are less interested in relaxing and more interested in cultural exploration.