Five-star hotels have more than doubled overnight stays since 2008. Rome leads the ranking, but luxury tourism remains concentrated in 17 provinces
Luxury tourism is becoming increasingly valuable for the Italian economy. In 2025 five-star and five-star luxury hotels generated 10.4 billion euro in direct tourist spending, equal to 17.3 per cent of the entire turnover of the hotel sector, estimated at just over 60 billion euro. And the gap with mid-range accommodation is significant: each overnight stay in a luxury hotel generates an average of 702 euro in tourist spending, compared with 209 euro for the hotel average.
The growth is captured by a study by the Demoskopika institute, devoted to the high-end segment and previewed by ANSA. The figures show a market that has expanded much more rapidly than the rest of Italian hospitality: between 2008 and 2025 overnight stays in luxury hotels increased by 111.1 per cent, while those in all hotel establishments grew by only 14.5 per cent.
In 2025 overnight stays in five-star establishments reached almost 14.9 million, with more than 4.9 million arrivals. Compared with 2024, arrivals were up 5 per cent and overnight stays 5.7 per cent. This expansion confirms the growing role of international customers with higher spending power, but also highlights a territorial distribution that is still highly uneven.
Rome leads luxury tourism, 17 provinces account for almost 80% of overnight stays
Italy’s high-end hospitality map is dominated by a handful of major hubs. According to the Elite Index (Exclusive Luxury & International Tourism Evaluation) compiled by Demoskopika, the leading regions are Lazio, Trentino-Alto Adige, Campania, Valle d’Aosta and Sardinia.
Lazio takes first place also in terms of economic value: in 2025 it is estimated to have generated 2.3 billion euro in direct tourist spending in the luxury segment, equal to 21.7 per cent of the national total. It is followed by Trentino-Alto Adige with 1.7 billion, Veneto with 1.4 billion, Lombardy with 1.3 billion and Tuscany with 1 billion.
At provincial level, Rome is the main destination and alone accounts for 19.7 per cent of overnight stays in high-end hotels. Together with Bolzano, Venice, Florence and Milan, it concentrates 53.4 per cent of overnight stays nationwide. If the focus is widened to the 17 main luxury hubs identified by the research, the share rises to 79.2 per cent.
Another figure captures territorial disparities even more clearly: 25 Italian provinces do not have a single five-star hotel. In 2025 there were 809 establishments in this category, 38 more than the previous year, offering almost 110,000 beds. However, they account for only 4.8 per cent of national hotel capacity.
The challenge with Spain and France: Italy among Europe’s major markets
The growth in luxury tourism is part of an increasingly fierce European competition that is increasingly geared towards high-spending travellers. Italy starts from a position of strength in terms of size of the tourism market: according to Eurostat, in 2025 it recorded around 535 million overnight stays in all types of accommodation, ahead of Spain (513 million), France (472 million) and Germany (440 million). Together, the four countries account for more than 60 per cent of overnight stays in the European Union.
The comparison changes, however, if tourism intensity is taken into account, that is the number of overnight stays in relation to the population: Spain records 10.4 nights per inhabitant, compared with 9.1 in Italy and 6.9 in France. Italy is therefore one of the main continental markets by volume of tourism, but still has room to increase the economic value generated by each visitor and to strengthen its ability to attract high-end stays.
Hotel investment figures also confirm how competitive the sector is. According to the European report by BNP Paribas Real Estate on the hotel market in 2025, Spain, the United Kingdom, France and Italy together accounted for more than half of European hotel investment. Spain recorded investments of 3.3 billion euro, the United Kingdom 4 billion, while Italy maintained a high volume, at around 1.8 billion. The Italian market accounts for 9 per cent of European hotel investment, compared with 16.4 per cent for Spain and 14.9 per cent for France.
Another interesting element comes from the performance of high-end establishments: in the European market in 2025 revenue per available room (RevPAR) rose by 3.8 per cent in the upscale segment, while it fell by 1.9 per cent in budget hotels. This points to stronger demand in the high-end segment than in the cheaper categories, at a time when household purchasing power continues to shape travel choices.
Italy’s challenge is to overcome concentration and seasonality
Revenue growth does not automatically translate into a more balanced distribution of opportunities. The eleven international markets that Demoskopika considers the main spending catchment areas, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia and Japan, account for 62.2 per cent of foreign overnight stays in Italian hotels. Across all hotel establishments, these visitors are estimated to have generated a turnover of 21.4 billion euro in 2025, considering the different components of tourist spending. Germany and the United States are the top two markets, with 6.39 and 4.69 billion respectively.
For Demoskopika, the issue is not only to increase the number of luxury hotels, but to make better use of those that already exist and to extend their operating season. According to the study, the bed occupancy rate in high-end establishments remains well below the national average of 37.1 per cent, especially in southern Italy, where the supply is more recent or highly seasonal.
Transport links, services and efforts to reduce seasonality therefore become decisive factors in expanding the map of luxury destinations beyond major art cities and already established resorts. The growth of the segment represents an opportunity for Italy, but the challenge will be to turn international appeal into a more widespread economic benefit across the country.
Source: www.euronews.com
