Means of transport of foreign tourists in Italy and the tourism balance of payments

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to examine the spending behaviour of foreign tourists with respect to both the means of transport chosen to arrive to Italy and the nature of the specific destinations. In particular, the objective is to illustrate the difference in tourist expenditures between those travelling by air and those by car. Design – This paper presents an organized and integrated description of the literature that involves the analyses of transport for tourism purposes. Using microdata collected by the Banca d’Italia to calculate the balance of payments, we describe and analyse foreign demand for tourism from the two perspectives: quantity (arrivals) and value (expenditure). Tourists spending with respect to internal destinations is further explored. Findings – Our findings show that the main transport options in Italy (by air and by car) are closely linked to the nature of each particular destination. For seaside destinations, the preferred mode of travel to reach the country is by roads, while tourists tend to travel by air when their aim is to visit cities with cultural and artistic offerings. Originality of the research – The present study sheds new light on the existing literature by enhancing the methods for analysing tourist economic flows and conceptualizing tourist traffic routes.