Italy's tourism sector currently accounts for 8.2% of the country's GDP but this could more than double to 17.4% through proper investments, according to a new study.
Drawn up by the Bain & Company consultancy firm, the report said that aN "extraordinary public-private collective effort" could more than double the tourism sector the way it did in Spain from 1996 to 2000.
The Bain & Co report was published by the economic daily Il Sole 24 Ore ahead of the BIT international tourism trade fair in Milan, which opens on Thursday.
According to Bain & Co, "the tourism industry in Italy is worth about 115 billion euros and has been expanding over the past 15 years at an annual rate oF around 5%. However, this growth has been primarily linked to the development of the international market and does not reflect Italy's potential".
The report also found that investments over the past 15 years have allowed tourism to grow in countries like Greece, Turkey, Portugal and Spain at a rate much superior to that in Italy.
In Spain, for example, investments in the tourism sector from 1990 to 2005 allowed the sector to have almost twice the effect on the nation's economy than it did in Italy, the report found.
Furthermore, these investments from the second half of the 1990s allowed for the number of foreign tourists visiting Spain to more than double and expand at an annual rate of 16%.
This resulted in Spain overtaking Italy as the European leader for tourism and establishing a gap of some seven percentage points in terms of market share.
According to Bain & Co, investments in Italy's tourism sector need to be bolstered in all areas: from improving hotel service and transportation to promoting Italy's brand.
"Only in this way will the sector be able to best express its potential," the report concluded.
