The Blue Flag remains one of the most prestigious international environmental labels for beaches and tourist marinas. In 2024, Italy confirms itself as one of the nations with the highest number of awards, totaling 485 Blue Flags for beaches and 81 for tourist marinas, demonstrating a continuous commitment to sustainability in coastal and lake tourist destinations.

This indicator measures Italy's dependence on international tourism markets, particularly long-distance markets, to assess the environmental impact associated with long-haul travel.

As a global tourism destination, Italy is influenced by the distances tourists travel to visit it. Aviation plays a crucial role, significantly contributing to CO2 emissions, which are further exacerbated by the increasing number of tourist arrivals.

Between 2015 and 2019, the tourism sector experienced continuous growth, with the ratio between domestic tourists and those from distant countries remaining stable. This trend was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

However, in 2022 and 2023, the sector showed a strong recovery, with the territorial distribution of tourists from distant origins returning to pre-pandemic levels.

The indicator illustrates electricity consumption in the tourism sector, identified by the ATECO category "Accommodation and Food Service Activities". In 2023, this sector accounted for 4.2% of total electricity consumption in Italy. When considering only accommodation activities—such as hotels, campsites, and other short-term lodging facilities—this share drops to 1.5%. In 2023, within the "accommodation" subcategory, 83.8% of electricity consumption was attributable to "hotels and similar establishments".

Tourism infrastructures, particularly marinas, exert significant pressure on marine and coastal environments. This indicator monitors potential environmental pressure by considering the total number of berths and their distribution per kilometer of coastline across Italian regions. The 2022 data indicate an increase in the number of berths compared to 2021, with a higher concentration in certain regions, implying greater environmental impact on local ecosystems.

The indicator quantifies the accommodation capacity of hotels, complementary facilities, and bed and breakfasts in the territory, as well as estimates the utilization rate of hotels. In 2023, the net hotel utilization index reached 51.5%, the highest value since 1995.

The indicator monitors the impact of tourism on the territory in terms of both volume (arrivals) and the burden placed on the area (overnight stays). It highlights how some regions and autonomous provinces experience high "arrivals per inhabitant" and "overnight stays per inhabitant" ratios, such as Valle d'Aosta (10.9 and 30.0) and the Autonomous Province of Bolzano (15.7 and 67.2), compared to the national average of 2.3 and 7.6, respectively. In 2023, all values increased and surpassed those recorded in 2019.

The indicator analyses the average CO₂ emissions per air passenger, providing a measure of the environmental impact of air transport within the tourism sector. It is based on the division of total CO₂ emissions from passenger flights by the number of passengers transported. In 2023, the emission value decreases to 77 kg CO₂ per passenger, confirming an improvement in the energy efficiency of the Italian aviation sector. However, despite this progress, Italy remains above the levels of some more virtuous European countries, indicating the need for additional strategies for the decarbonisation of the sector.

The indicator aims to provide a quantitative estimate of the contribution of tourists to daily potable water consumption.

In 2022, at the national level, the recorded tourist movement consumed 4 liters of potable water per capita equivalent per day.

Between 2015 and 2018-2020, a growth in consumption was recorded, increasing from 3.7 to 4 liters per capita equivalent, followed by a sharp drop in 2020, an anomaly attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, which halted global travel.

Tourism is crucial for European economies, but a compromised environment could endager its future, as the main attraction of tourism lies in a clean and preserved environment. This indicator analyzes emissions generated by tourist travel in Italy. Among the various road transport modes, cars contribute the most to all pollutant emissions, with 2022 values ranging from 76.8% for PM2.5 to 95.8% for VOCs. The use of campers, caravans, and vans, on the other hand, mainly affects PM2.5 (19.7%) and NOx emissions (14.3%).

Among the infrastructures for tourism activities, golf courses have a strong impact on the surrounding environment. The consumption of resources (e.g., water extraction, land occupation, etc.) and the pollution produced, for example, by the use of pesticides, are the main concerns. In response, the Italian golf movement is increasingly directing its development toward an environmentally friendly approach through certifications (GEO) or environmental recognitions. In 2022, the total number of golf courses was 367.

Italian parks host approximately 20.2% of all accommodation establishments and 24.5% of total bed capacity within their territories.

This indicator analyzes accommodation supply (number of establishments and beds) and tourism flows (arrivals and overnight stays) in national and regional parks, also highlighting the pressure exerted on these areas.

The European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas (ECST) has been awarded to 80% of national parks and around 11.2% of regional parks.