Tourists in Italy spent 35 billion euros in 2015

(AGI) Venice, Apr 13 - International travellers to Italy spent more than 35.7 billion euros between January and December 2015, a 4.4 per cent increase on 2014. There was also a rise, albeit more contained, in spending by Italian travellers abroad, which rose 1.5 per cent to 22,040 million euros. The net balance of payments in the tourism sector showed a surplus of 13,725 million euros, up 9.6 per cent on 2014. The preliminary figures for the past year were provided by the CISET International Centre for Studies on Tourism Economics at Ca Foscari University of Venice, which will present a definitive picture during the 16th Italy and International Tourism: Trends and Results for Incoming and Outgoing in 2015 Conference, organised in partnership with the Bank of Italy. A snapshot of the tourist balance of payments in 2015 will be followed by the first session, in which the financial impact of tourism at regional level and the importance of analysing tourist expenditure will be discussed. The evolution of Italian tourism abroad will be the focus of the second part. Changes to the map of preferred destinations, the effects of the recent geopolitical and economic events on some of the most popular destinations - Tunisia, Egypt, Greece and France - and the countries that have become more attractive to Italian tourists will all be discussed. (AGI) . .