Evaluating tourism expenditure between Northern and Southern Italy (1998 -2008) Objectives

This paper aims to evaluate the domestic tourism expenditure in the Centre- North and in the South and the net tourism balance of the two areas, both still not available from other sources. Methods and Results The method is based on the assumption that what Italian tourists spend is the same as that spent by tourists from the EU countries, accommodation and visited area being equal and with a similar per capita income. The total domestic tourism expenditure amounts to around € 47.4 billion in 2008 with an average daily expenditure of some € 82. Expenditure incurred in the Southern regions by tourists resident in Centre-Northern is structurally higher than that in the opposite direction and is rising at a slightly higher pace. In terms of GDP, the tourism balance of payment is structurally in surplus in both areas; Southern regions mostly profit by domestic tourism, whereas Centre-North’s surplus is completely due to international tourism. In 2008, domestic tourism receipts spent by tourists resident in the other area have contributed for 2.4% in the Southern regions and 0.5% in the Centre- North; considering all the forms of tourism, tourism receipts account for some 5% in both areas. Conclusions Tourism partly offsets the structural deficit, net of the public transfers, of current and capital accounts of Southern regions, and reinforces the surplus of the current and capital account of the Centre-North. Italy is endowed with the most World Heritage cultural sites in the world, then tourism sector could be, more than it already is, a strong point for the economy, in particular for the South, as it is also confirmed by the steady-pace increase of Italy’s outflows that can crowd out the Italian domestic tourism.

Keywords: Tourism expenditure, domestic tourism, Italian southern regions, contribution to GDP, tourism balance of payments, linear regression

• Il turismo internazionale in Italia: recenti tendenze, domanda potenziale e confronto con i principali concorrenti europei (International Tourism in Italy: Recent Trends, Potential Demand and a Comparison With the Main European Competitors) Emanuele Breda, Rita Cappariello, Valentina Romano, in SSRN Electronic Journal /2018
  DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.3355410

Alivernini, Una valutazione delle spese turistiche fra il centro nord e il mezzogiorno (1998-2008) in "RIVISTA DI ECONOMIA E STATISTICA DEL TERRITORIO" 1/2012, pp 121-149, DOI: 10.3280/REST2012-001005