Tourist exchange between Italy and Russia

This paper analyzes the tourist exchange between Italy and the Russian Federation on the basis of the data provided by the most important survey on international tourism of Italy. More precisely, it analyzes the number and dynamic of travelers, overnight stays and the expenditure of Russian tourists who stayed in Italy along with the same data concerning Italian tourists who visited Russia between 2007 and 2011. For this purpose, appropriate statistic ratios are used, to bring out the characteristics of the phenomena analyzed. These ratios are useful for assessing the propensity to travel from and to both countries and evaluating the growth rate of tourist flows, the average length of stays and the daily expenditure per capita. The findings of this study on tourism to and from Italy and Russia provide basic statistical information useful for both planning and, as far as possible, controlling tourist flows – generated and welcomed – as well as addressing and supporting bilateral initiatives in the field of Higher Education, where staff are trained in planning and managing.