Tourism in Tuscany is back to the record levels of 2011. According to recent statistics, this year 43.4 million tourists visited the Italian region, which is the second highest result ever.
“Compared with 2013, this year there have been 209,000 more arrivals and 441,000 more overnight visitors,” explained Mr. Alberto Perruzzini, director of the touristic sector of Toscana Promozione. These numbers confirm that Tuscany is still very appealing. More and more foreigners decide to visit this region for holidays – today they represent 53% of the total number of tourists. In 2005 they accounted only for 47.1%.
Another important message comes from Italian tourism in general. Despite the economic crisis that has been vexing the country over the past years, tourism in Italy has increased by 3% this year.
The big artistic cities, such as Firenze, Pisa and Siena, are acting as a stimulant and tourism has grown by 3.4 % in those cities this year, the best performance in Tuscany.
Also at the seaside, things are going well, where, especially in the Maremma-area, tourism has increased by 0.8 in 2014. Due to an unfavorable summer, though, other areas have suffered a little: mountains (-5.8%) and countryside (-3%).
The domestic tourism in Tuscany is growing too – there have been +3% more arrivals. Good news comes also from the hospitality sector, which increased by 0.4%. Agritourism facilities also recorded an increase - +1.7% visitors.
“Tourism will represent an essential part of Tuscan economy in particular in reference to GNP and employment, “said Perruzzini. “We think that in 2015 there will be more arrivals from the US, Canada and China, while those from Brazil and Russia will get more stable. Anyhow, there should be a general increase of 2.5% in arrivals. For what concerns European tourists, we think that 2015 will be a pretty stable year, with maybe some more visitors from France, Spain and from northern Europe, Great Britain included. Italian visitors will be few as always, but we hope to at least confirm this year's numbers.”
The best results will probably be achieved in culture, accessible luxury, culinary arts, shopping and active tourism.