section_path: Economy/Tourism
section_name: Tourism
paragraph_text: Tourism
  
  People have visited Italy for centuries, yet the first to visit the peninsula for tourism were aristocrats during the Grand Tour, which began in the 17th century, and flourished in the 18th and the 19th centuries. This was a period in which European aristocrats, many of whom were British, visited parts of Europe, with Italy as a key destination. For Italy, this was in order to study ancient architecture, local culture, and admire its natural beauty.
  
  Italy is the fourth most visited country, with a total of 57 million arrivals in 2023. In 2014 the income from travel and tourism was EUR163 billion (10% of GDP) and 1,082,000 jobs were directly related to it (5% of employment).
  
  Tourist interest is mainly in culture, cuisine, history, architecture, art, religious sites and routes, wedding tourism, naturalistic beauties, nightlife, underwater sites, and spas. Winter and summer tourism are present in locations in the Alps and the Apennines, while seaside tourism is widespread among locations along the Mediterranean. Italy is the leading cruise tourism destination in the Mediterranean. Small, historical, and artistic villages are promoted through the association I Borghi più belli d'Italia (lit. ' The Most Beautiful Villages of Italy ').
  
  The most visited regions are Veneto, Tuscany, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, and Lazio. Rome is the third most visited city in Europe, and 12th in the world, with 9.4 million arrivals in 2017. Venice and Florence are among the world's top 100 destinations.
  
  Italy has the most World Heritage Sites: 59, 53 are cultural and 6 natural.