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The impact of Covid-19 on international tourism flows to Italy: evidence from mobile phone data

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Listed:
  • Valerio Della Corte

    (Bank of Italy)

  • Claudio Doria

    (Bank of Italy)

  • Giacomo Oddo

    (Bank of Italy)

Abstract

This paper analyses the response to the COVID-19 pandemic of inbound tourism to Italy looking at variation across countries and across provinces. To this end, it uses weekly data on the number of foreign visitors in Italy from January 2019 until February 2021, as provided by a primary mobile phone operator. We document a very robust negative relation at province level between local epidemiological conditions and the inflow of foreign travellers. Moreover, provinces with a historically higher share of art tourism, and those that used to be ‘hotel intensive’ were hit the most during the pandemic, while provinces with a more prevalent orientation towards business tourism proved to be more resilient. Entry restrictions with varying degrees of strictness played a key role in explaining cross-country patterns. After controlling for these restrictions, we observed that the travellers that could arrive by their own, private, means of transportation decreased proportionally less. Overall, this evidence emphasises that contagion risk considerations played a significant role in shaping international tourism patterns during the pandemic.

Suggested Citation

  • Valerio Della Corte & Claudio Doria & Giacomo Oddo, 2021. "The impact of Covid-19 on international tourism flows to Italy: evidence from mobile phone data," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 647, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    • Handle: RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_647_21
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    Cited by:

    1. E. Guglielminetti & M. Loberto & A. Mistretta, 2023. "The impact of COVID-19 on the European short-term rental market," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 50(3), pages 585-623, August.
    2. Marta Crispino & Vincenzo Mariani, 2025. "A Tool to Nowcast Tourist Overnight Stays with Payment Data and Complementary Indicators," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 11(1), pages 285-312, March.
    3. Marta Crispino & Vincenzo Mariani, 2023. "A tool to nowcast tourist overnight stays with payment data and complementary indicators," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 746, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    4. Caria, Andrea & Delogu, Marco & Meleddu, Marta & Sotgiu, Giovanni, 2024. "People inflows as a pandemic trigger: Evidence from a quasi-experimental study," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    International tourism; travel restrictions; Covid-19;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade

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