In Italy, 5-star hotels recorded 14.9 million overnight stays in 2025, more than double the 2008 figure. That is the finding of a note from the research institute Demoskopika, published on 6 November 2026, which takes luxury to mean 5-star and 5-star luxury hotels only, 809 properties in all. Their guests would have spent 10.4 billion euros, an amount estimated by the institute, not measured.
- 🏨 The scope · hotels classified 5-star and 5-star luxury only: 809 properties, 109,941 beds.
- 📈 Overnight stays · 14.9 million in 2025, or +111.1% since 2008, against +14.5% for all hotels.
- 🌍 Foreign guests · 77.7% of overnight stays in 5-star hotels.
- 💶 Spending · an estimated 10.4 billion euros, 17.3% of estimated hotel spending.
- 🌙 Per overnight stay · an estimated €702, against an average of €209 across hotels; this is not a room price.
- 🛏️ Beds · a gross utilisation rate of 37.1%, for 5-star hotels alone.
Contents
809 hotels: what the study calls luxury
The 18-page note applies no price or brand criterion: only the classification counts. Italy had 809 hotels rated 5-star and 5-star luxury in 2025, 38 more than a year earlier, with 109,941 beds, or 4.8% of the country’s hotel capacity. The photos in this article are for illustration only: Demoskopika does not mention any of the hotels shown.
From 7 to 14.9 million overnight stays in 17 years
Overnight stays rose from 7,044,963 in 2008 to 14,872,132 in 2025, or +111.1%, against +14.5% for all Italian hotels. Since 2019 they have grown by 27.6%, against 2.6% overall. In 2025 these hotels gained 5.7% in overnight stays year on year, with an average stay of 3.03 nights, and accounted for 5.16% of hotel overnight stays. These national totals come from the final data of Istat, Italy’s national statistics institute.
Nearly eight in ten overnight stays from abroad
Foreign guests account for 77.7% of overnight stays in 5-star hotels, up 7.5% year on year. Their share climbs to 84.6% in Lazio, the region around Rome, and falls to 33.7% in Calabria.
The institute also singles out eleven high-spending countries, led by Germany and the United States. This calculation covers all hotels, not just 5-star properties: an estimated 21.4 billion euros, for 62.2% of foreign overnight stays in hotels.
€702 per overnight stay: an estimate, not a price
Direct tourist spending by 5-star guests would have reached 10.4 billion euros in 2025, or 17.3% of the 60.3 billion estimated for the hotel sector as a whole. Each overnight stay would represent €702 in spending, against an average of €209 across hotels. This is not the price of a room.
These amounts are calculated, not taken from hotel accounts. Demoskopika starts from what foreign travellers spend in hotels according to the Bank of Italy, an average of €209.94 over 2024-2025, and applies a national coefficient of 3.26, weighted region by region and derived from median prices recorded on Booking.com on 1 November 2026 for 1,445 properties. The method has been revised: these values cannot be compared with those of the March 2025 edition.
Lazio leads, with three regions tied
The study ranks the 20 regions with its ELITE index, which combines seven indicators. Lazio comes first (112.9), ahead of Trentino-South Tyrol (107.4) and Campania (107.2). Tuscany, Veneto and Lombardy are tied on 105.1, and Molise closes the ranking on 87.4.
Lazio and Tuscany have 105 hotels each. Estimated spending puts Lazio first, with 2.3 billion euros, ahead of Trentino-South Tyrol (1.7 billion). Per overnight stay, it would be €1,038 in the Aosta Valley and €345 in Puglia. The regional breakdown of flows is observed for only six territories and estimated for the others.
Rome, Bolzano, Venice: where guests sleep
At provincial level, the figures are estimated, except for Bolzano and Aosta. Seventeen “luxury hubs” would concentrate 79.2% of overnight stays. Rome would account for 19.7% and Bolzano 13.1%; with Venice, Florence and Milan, these five provinces would bring together 53.4% of the total. At the other end of the scale, twenty-five provinces have no 5-star hotel at all.
37.1% of beds in use: the real issue?
The gross bed utilisation rate, calculated for 5-star hotels alone, stands at 37.1% on the national average, and markedly lower across much of the Mezzogiorno, the south of Italy, according to the institute. It should not be confused with the room occupancy rate.
“Rather than multiplying the number of properties, they must be made to work harder and for longer,” write the researchers at Demoskopika (translated from Italian). On openings, another study, presented at the AURA trade fair in Florence, counts 104 branded five-star hotels expected in Italy by 2029. To see where the country stands in Europe, read our ranking of hotel nights in 2025.
- 📄 The study · “Turismo di lusso. Presenze negli alberghi a 5 stelle più che raddoppiate dal 2008. La classifica dell’Indice ELITE”, 18-page note (PDF)
- 🔬 Institute · Demoskopika, in Rome and Rende
- 🗓️ Published · 6 November 2026
- 🔎 Scope · Italy, 2008-2025, 20 regions and provinces, hotel guests only
- 🌐 Official website · demoskopika.it
