Sustainable Destination Management
Strategies in the OIC Member Countries
82
2.2.2. Italy
Background
Italy is also the home of the Renaissance and currently has 50 UNESCO world Heritage Sites.270
As such, it has an innumerable amount of cultural and architectural resources, including
museums, monuments, and ancient ruins. With cities like Rome, Venice, Verona, Florence, and
Pisa, the sites to visit are incredible and some of the world’s most famous, like the Coliseum and
leaning tower of Pisa. It has excellent weather and a never-ending list of scenic coastal towns,
and incredible Mediterranean beaches. Italy is also well known for its traditional and varied
gastronomy, and its fashion industry, which undoubtedly are two very important resources.
According to the 2017 edition of the UNWTO Tourism Highlights, Italy had 52.4 million visitors
in 2016.271
Table 7: Italy - Tourism Statistics
International tourist arrivals 50,731,770
International tourism inbound
receipts
US $39,449.2 million
Average receipts per arrival US $777.6
Travel and Tourism%of GDP 4.2%
Travel and Tourism employment 1,118,990 jobs
(5% of total)
Source: Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index 2017
Italy was ranked 8th in the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index 2017 edition. The tourism
and travel industry contributed to the country’s economy with $76,286.3 million, that is 4.2% of
GDP, and it generated 1,118,990 jobs, 5% of total employment. 272 In 2015, the total contribution
of the entire tourism sector to the Italian economy was €171 billion, amounting to 11.8% of GDP
and 12.8% in terms of employment.273
Although Italy has a great culture of tourism and the necessary infrastructure to welcome
tourists, certain cities have suffered various degrees of saturation, which entail negative impacts
on the local population and the environment, most notably, Rome, Venice, and the coastal Cinque
270 World Atlas. (2018). The world's most visited countries . Retrieved from
visited-countries-in-the-world.html.
271 UNWTO. (2017). Tourism highlights , 2017 edition. Retrieved from
272 Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index. (2017). 2017 edition. Retrieved from
2017/WEF_TTCI_2017_Profile_ITA.pdf.
273 Culture Projects. (2017). Strategic plan for tourism 2017-2022, Executive Summary. Retrieved from