Tourism in Venice and the COVID-19 impact
When looking at the number of overnight stays, it becomes clear the paramount role played by international tourism in Venice. In 2019, the city registered a total of roughly 13 million overnight stays, of which 11 million were made by visitors from abroad. In this respect, the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic was dramatic in Venice in 2020, with the health crisis hitting international travel particularly hard.The number of inbound overnight stays in Venice dropped to approximately 2.4 million in 2020. In that year, German travelers spent the highest number of stays in the city, while the U.S. was by far the leading international tourist market in Venice prior to the pandemic. In this respect, it is likely that trips were dictated by proximity in 2020, due to travel bans and strict safety regulations adopted during the health crisis. When looking at Italian domestic tourism in 2020, visitors from the neighboring region of Lombardy recorded the highest number of Italian overnight stays in Venice.