Descrizione 1
Giovanni Finocchiaro, Silvia Iaccarino
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 provides key information regarding tourism infrastructure, examining accommodation capacity in terms of number of establishments and beds, as well as density per km².
Accommodation facilities are classified into:
- Hotels, including hotels of all categories and tourist residences.
- Complementary facilities, including campsites and tourist villages, rental accommodations managed as businesses (holiday homes and apartments, guesthouses, accommodations in restaurants, furnished units for tourist use, residences, inns), agritourism lodgings (rural buildings offering accommodations to tourists by individual or associated agricultural entrepreneurs), and other facilities (youth hostels, holiday homes, mountain refuges, fixed bivouacs, hiking lodges, alpine shelters, high-altitude social refuges, and tourist guesthouses).
- Bed and breakfasts, which offer lodging and breakfast services for a limited number of rooms and/or beds.
The utilization rate of a facility during a given period, compared to its maximum potential, is estimated using the net utilization index, defined as the ratio between the number of overnight stays (P) recorded in hotels and the number of bed-days of actual operation (Ge), excluding closures due to seasonality, renovations, or temporary shutdowns.
The formula used is: I=GeP×100=ge×LP×100
where:
- Ge represents the number of bed-days of actual operation.
- ge represents the number of days the facility was open.
- L represents the number of available beds.
To quantify the accommodation capacity of hotels, complementary facilities, and bed and breakfasts, as well as their spatial distribution.
The indicator has no direct references to specific regulatory elements.
Descrizione 2
ISTAT, various years, Tourism Statistics
Census of second homes
Qualificazione dati
http://dati.istat.it/ (SERVIZI/TURISMO)
http://demo.istat.it/
National, Regional
1990-2023
Qualificazione indicatore
The indicator is calculated using ratios, percentages, and variations. The net utilization index is given by the ratio between the number of overnight stays (P) recorded in hotels and the number of bed-days of actual operation (Ge). I=GeP×100=ge×LP×100
In 2023, tourism infrastructures showed annual growth in the total number of accommodation establishments (+2.2%), particularly in the "rental accommodations" (+10%) and "agritourism lodgings" (+2.5%) categories.
The bed and breakfast sector continued its decline compared to 2022 (-1.3%), while the number of hotels decreased slightly (-0.7%).
The number of available beds remained nearly constant (+0.1%) (Table 1).
The net hotel utilization index increased, not only recovering from the pandemic years but reaching a record level over the last 28 years, standing at 51.5% (Table 5).
This increase leads to greater efficiency in resource use (such as energy and water optimization) and a reduction in food waste. However, it may also result in greater environmental pressures. With careful management and the adoption of sustainable practices, hotels can mitigate negative impacts and positively contribute to environmental sustainability.
Between 2002 and 2023, Italy recorded an overall increase in the number of beds per km², reaching 17.2 beds/km².
In terms of number of establishments, hotel density remained stable at 0.11 establishments/km², while complementary accommodations returned to and surpassed pre-COVID values, reaching 0.54 establishments/km² (Table 3).
When considering only tourism infrastructures with significant territorial impact, such as hotels, campsites, and agritourism accommodations, there was a 40.8% increase in the number of establishments and a 23% increase in the number of beds between 1990 and 2023.
Looking at the accommodation index (Table 6), which measures the capacity to host tourists relative to the resident population, no significant variations were observed. However, some regions show significantly higher values than the national average, indicating a broad accommodation offering.
The annual accommodation index remains below 100, meaning that the influx of tourists does not exceed the resident population. However, in some regions and likely during specific periods of the year, it is crucial for territories to continue implementing sustainable practices to manage tourism effectively and protect the environment.
Dati
Table 1: Capacity of hotel establishments, complementary establishments, and Bed and Breakfasts in Italy
ISPRA processing based on ISTAT data
a – The category "Rental accommodations registered in the REC" has been referred to as "Rental accommodations" since 2000, and includes all types of rental accommodations managed as a business;
b – Agritourism accommodations for the years 1990–1995 are included under "Other establishments";
c – Youth hostels, holiday homes, alpine huts, and similar. From 1990 to 1995, agritourism accommodations are also included;
d – Since 2002, the "Bed and Breakfast" category has been excluded from "Other establishments" and reported separately;
e – Annual variations in accommodation capacity variables may reflect spurious effects due to extraordinary revisions of the accommodation establishment registers used by regional and local tourism authorities. These revisions mainly affect "Rental accommodations," "Agritourism accommodations," and "Other establishments";
f – In Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Campania, a break in time series for non-hotel establishments is due to changes in data collection and classification methods. For Calabria, data refer to 2010, as the intermediary data collection body did not transmit data for 2011.
Table 2: Accommodation capacity by type of establishment and by region (2022)
ISPRA processing based on ISTAT data
a – The category "Rental accommodations registered in the REC" has been referred to as "Rental accommodations" since 2000 and includes all types of business-managed rental accommodations;
b – Since 2002, the "Bed and Breakfast" category has been excluded from "Other establishments" and reported separately;
-
= the phenomenon does not exist or exists and is surveyed, but no cases were recorded.
Table 3: Density of accommodation establishments
ISPRA processing based on ISTAT data
Table 4: Density of accommodation establishments by region and autonomous province (2022)
ISPRA processing based on ISTAT data
Table 5: Net occupancy rate of hotel establishments by region and autonomous province
ISPRA processing based on ISTAT data
a – LAZIO: Data for the municipality of Rome replicated from the most recent available year (January–December);
b – LAZIO: Data for the province of Rome replicated from the most recent available year (January–December);
c – LAZIO: Regional data replicated from the most recent available year (January–December);
d – SICILY: Data for the provinces of Messina and Ragusa replicated from the most recent available year (January–December);
e – SICILY: Data for the municipality of Palermo replicated from the most recent available year (January–December);
f – SARDINIA: Data for the provinces of Olbia-Tempio, Medio-Campidano, Ogliastra, and Carbonia-Iglesias replicated from the most recent available year (January–December);
g – ITALY: The calculation is affected by notes a–f.
Figure 1: Change in the number of hotel and complementary establishments
ISPRA processing based on ISTAT data
The dashed line for complementary establishments indicates the inclusion of Bed and Breakfasts in this category until 2001.
Figure 2: Change in the number of beds in hotel and complementary establishments
ISPRA processing based on ISTAT data
The dashed line for complementary establishments indicates the exclusion of Bed and Breakfasts, which were included in this category until 2001.
The totals reported in the tables may reflect minor differences due to rounding adjustments.
The total capacity of accommodation facilities at the national level increased in 2023, compared to the previous year, by 2.2% in the number of establishments and 0.1% in the number of beds (Table 1).
In 2023, Italy recorded 17.2 beds/km², an increase since 2002.
For total accommodation establishments, density remained unchanged. Specifically:
At the regional level, the situation remains similar to the previous year.
Regarding the net utilization index, which collapsed to 29.7% in 2020 due to the pandemic, in 2023, it reached 51.5%.
Despite the overall improvement at the national level compared to 2022, some regions and autonomous provinces experienced a decline (Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trento, Abruzzo, Basilicata, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto).
Meanwhile, Trentino-Alto Adige, Lazio, and Sardinia recorded the largest increases, with gains of 11 to 15 percentage points (Table 5)..