Trips and holidays in Italy and abroad

Istat presents provisional estimates of the main aggregates of tourism demand in Italy in 2009, based on the multipurpose survey ‘Trips and holidays’ which has been conducted on a quarterly basis since 1997.

The survey collects information on trips of at least one overnight stay made by the resident population living in households. The aim of the survey is to detect the number of trips and their main characteristics (destination, type of accommodation, means of transport, duration) as well as the socio-demographic characteristics of tourists. The survey, thus, provides a complete picture of the national tourism demand, quantifying the number of trips (and nights) both to Italy and abroad made for business and personal purposes.

The sample size is 14,000 households per year (3,500 per quarter), corresponding to roughly 36,000 individuals. The methodology and organization of the survey are available on the Italian version of Istat website.