Blog

🏖 Foreign visitor spending in Italy grew by 8% in June, with a tourism trade balance surplus of €3.2 billion, up from €3.0 billion in June 2023. Italy's Banca d'Italia reports foreign travelers spent €6.1 billion and Italian travelers abroad spent €2.9 billion. The Q2 2024 balance hit €7.4 billion (0.4% of GDP), a rise from €6.7 billion in Q2 2023. EU travelers' spending in Italy surged by 14.4%, outpacing non-EU visitors' 5.4% increase.

📈 In Q2 2024, the market services sector in Italy saw a 0.3% increase in added value, offsetting a 0.8% decline in the industrial sector. The economy grew by 0.1%, with rental and travel agencies (1.4%), information and communication (1.2%), and professional activities (1.1%) leading the growth. However, wholesale trade connected to manufacturing fell by 0.4%. Service exports rose slightly year-over-year, representing 5.5% of Italy's GDP compared to France and Germany's 11.5% and 9%. Inflation in the services sector increased marginally to 3.1% in July and August from 2.9% in the previous quarter. Employment in the sector set a record, with a 0.2% increase in workforce units compared to 2022, driven by a 0.4% rise in salaried work. The financial and insurance activities (+0.3%) and the professional sector (+0.6%) saw employment boosts, while transport and hospitality services faced a 0.5% decrease, and communication and information services dropped by 1.3%.

🏨 In the 2024 Megahubs report by OAG, London Heathrow is ranked as the top connected airport, followed by Kuala Lumpur (Air Asia holds 35% of flights), with Tokyo Haneda in third place. Istanbul Airport has the highest number of connections with 324, while Frankfurt surpasses 300 destinations (304). Other top 10 European continental airports include Amsterdam Schiphol and Paris-Charles de Gaulle. The leading US airport is Chicago O'Hare International. Rome Fiumicino climbs from 42nd to 35th place, with Ita Airways being the top carrier there, having 35% of flights. Dominant carriers in top-ranked hubs include Vueling with 41% at Barcelona, easyJet 48% at London Gatwick, KLM 55% at Amsterdam, Air France 56% at Paris, the Lufthansa group 60% at Frankfurt, Turkish Airlines 79% at Istanbul, and Delta 75% at Atlanta in the US. For more information: www.oag.com.