Ukraine, Russians among the largest ‘big spenders’ in Italy, spent 1 billion euro on travel in 2019

From luxury hotels to high fashion boutiques, Russians are among the largest ‘big spenders’ in Italy among long-haul travelers. And it is no coincidence that Milan, where Milan Fashion Week is underway, is the first destination for purchases and shopping with 40.5% of the total expenditure, followed by Rome with 20.7%, Florence, Bologna and Rimini. . This is what Adnkronos reports, based on Enit pre covid data (2019), in making an estimate of the possible effects on tourism after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russian travelers come to Italy mainly to spend the holidays on which they spend 65% of the total travel expense which in 2019 amounted to 984 million euros. In particular, they spend 34% on a cultural holiday and 18.8% on a beach holiday. Russians prefer 5 provinces in particular where they spend the most on vacation: Rimini (14.9% of total spending in Italy) Rome (14.9%) Venice (9.1) Milan (8.8%) Verona (7.1 %). In 2019 there were about 1.7 million Russian tourists arrivals in Italy with 5.8 million presences (overnight stays).