Maria Elena Rossi, marketing director for the Italian National Tourist Board (EU250, EU200, EU100), said spectacular golf courses are distributed throughout the country – “and in southern Italy you can play all year round”.

“We don’t have very large extended golf resorts like in other countries, but we do have many local courses that can be combined with local tourism,” she said. “This is a great angle for potential new customers – and for affluent customers.”

Rossi said the tourist board was also anticipating a boost to sporting visitors in the run-up to Italy’s Winter Olympics, which are being hosted in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo in 2026.

Italy is also putting more emphasis on smaller towns and cities in its marketing, driven by a new consciousness around over-tourism in the major cities. Locations including Genoa, Bologna and Torino have all benefited from increased tourism this year, driven partly by domestic travellers. “Our smaller cities are less crowded but offer something unique,” added Rossi.

Rossi expects the country to return to pre-pandemic levels of tourism over the next two years, with a strong return from travellers from the US and European countries in 2022, followed by more tourists from the Far East in 2023.