Overnight stays are increasing while arrivals show a slight decline. According to Istat data, in the second quarter of 2026, nearly 47 million arrivals were recorded in accommodation facilities (-0.8% compared to the same period in 2025) while overnight stays nearly reached 148 million with a +3.9%, confirming a slight lengthening of the holiday duration. Record overnight stays from abroad reached 61.6% with an increase of 4.6%, while the increase in Italian customers was more contained (+2.7%). In May, coinciding with the Pentecost holidays, the peak of overnight stays was recorded with +8.8%, of which +10.1% were from abroad while Italians were at 6.4%.
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“Tourist flows in the second quarter of 2026, although arrivals experienced a slight year-on-year decrease compared to the same period of the previous year, in terms of overnight stays, that is nights spent in Italian accommodation establishments, have instead overall increased significantly (+3.9%) – emphasizes the Statistical Institute in a note -. This increase was mainly supported by the foreign component, confirming the increasingly important role of international tourist demand. The most significant year-on-year increases concern the month of May, but June is the most touristic month, concentrating 44.1% of the quarter’s overnight stays. The positive performance of tourism in terms of overnight stays affects both hotel and non-hotel accommodations, but with different intensities: the increase for the non-hotel sector in the second quarter is more than double that of the hotel sector, respectively +5.6% and +2.4%.”
In the second quarter, the average stay of customers in accommodation facilities is 3.15 nights: slightly up compared to 2025 and higher for foreigners (3.34 nights) than Italians (2.88 nights). The hotel sector recorded 27.6 million arrivals with 77.6 million overnight stays. The non-hotel sector – also considering rentals of houses and apartments for short periods for tourist purposes, managed both entrepreneurially and non-entrepreneurially – contributed with over 19.3 million arrivals and about 70.3 million overnight stays. The largest year-on-year increase in overnight stays concerns non-hotel accommodations (+5.6%), while the hotel sector increased to a lesser extent (+2.4%). In non-hotel accommodations, overnight stays increased both for the Italian component (+4.2%) and for the foreign component (+6.4%), with a slightly stronger dynamic for the latter. In hotels, the slight increase in overnight stays by Italian customers (+1.7%) contrasts with a more marked increase for foreigners (+2.9%).
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