Tourism 2024 Sardinia in growth, Gallura first province
In 2024, Sardinia recorded almost 19 million tourist attendees, marking the best result ever. International attendance was 7.8 million. This is up from 2023 and above pre-pandemic levels in 2019. This confirms Sardinia’s growing attractiveness to foreign markets.
Gallura is confirmed as the first province tourists of the island, with 7 million attendance, equal to 36.5% of the regional total. The international attendance of the northeastern province of Sardinia There were 4 million, 39% of the total Sardinia.
Tourism data in Sardinia in 2024 come from the Observatory of Tourism of Region of Sardinia and from theIstat. The processing and analysis were handled by the UniOlbia Communication and Study Center.
A new methodology for reading tourism
In presenting the data, Councilor Cuccureddu emphasized the start of a new detection system. which allows us to better represent the reality of the island tourist phenomenon: For example, the National Identification Code (CIN).
Arrivals and attendance (the number of nights) refer to hotel and non-hotel establishments, but do not include flows linked to second homes, which remain outside the Istat detection.
To highlight - as read in all reports in the Ross1000 system in use in the Sardinia Region - is the coverage of the detection system, i.e. the percentage of truly active structures that communicate data: 41 percent in 2019, 49 percent in 2022, 60 percent in 2023, 49 percent in 2024.
This means that official attendance is undersized compared to reality, particularly in areas with high tourist density such as Gallura, where coverage is lower than regional average.
A comparison to previous years
Tourism data in Sardinia 2024 indicate 18.9 million attendances and show a net increase in attendance compared to previous years.
Compared to 2019, when total attendance was around 13.4 million, there was an increase of 41 percent.
Compared to 2022, which had reached 14 million, the increase was 35 percent.
Compared to 2023, which had totaled approximately 13.7 million attendance, the growth is 38 percent. This is the most high ever recorded in Sardinia.
Gallura remains regional leader
According to the data processed by the UniOlbia Study Centre, the Top 30 tourist municipalities in Sardinia recorded approximately 16 million attendances, equal to 85 percent of the regional total.
Among these, well 12 are located in Gallura, which alone exceeded the 6.8 million attendance, or 43 percent of the total of the top 30 municipalities in Sardinia.
Again, the comparison with previous years is significant: Gallura was at 5.9 million in attendance in 2019 and 2022, and dropped to 5.6 million in 2023.
The 2024 increase over 2023 is 21 percent, while compared to 2019 and 2022, growth is 15 percent.
Attendance in the Gallura Municipalities
The municipalities of Sclerosis recorded the following attendance in 2024:
- Arzachena 1.190.000 attendees
- Olbia 1.080.000
- San Teodoro 890.000
- Budoni 780.000
- Palau 700.000
- Santa Teresa Gallura 420.000
- Badesi 370.000
- Trinità d’Agultu e Vignola 340.000
- La Maddalena 340.000
- Aglientu 330.000
- Golfo Aranci 230.000
- Loiri Porto San Paolo 150.000
Tourist attendance in the other municipalities of Sardinia
In 2024, the first tourist municipality in Sardinia by number of attendance is Alghero, with approximately 1.590.000 attendees, exceeding Arzachena and Olbia.
Follows Cagliari with 960.000 attendees, so Orosei with 870.000, Villasimius with 823.000 and Muravera with 761.000. A short distance away are Tortolì with 618.000 attendees and Pula with 602.000. Dorgali stands at 509.000. And then: Castiadas with 339.000 attendees, Stintino with 325.000, Sassari with 250.000, Bari Sardo with 234.000, Domus de Maria with 225.000, Castelsardo with 209.000, Oristano with 200,000, Valledoria with 190.000, Quartu Sant’Elena with 292.000 and Cardedu with 175.000.
Foreign tourism returns to growth
In 2024, the Sardinia welcomed approximately 7.8 million foreign attendees, marking a strong recovery after the slowdown in 2023 and returning to absolute values above both 2022 and 2019.
Compared to 2023, which had stopped at about 6.5 million foreign attendances, growth is 21 percent. Compared to 2022, which had totaled 7.2 million, the increase is 9 percent. Compared to 2019, the last pre-pandemic year, when foreign arrivals were 7.4 million, the increase is 6 percent.
However, despite growth in absolute values, the incidence of foreign attendance on the overall total of regional tourism remains below 50 percent. 2024 stands at 49 percent, up from 47 percent in 2023, but still away from 55 percent in 2019.
This indicates that while international tourism has recovered strongly, it has not yet regained its relative weight before the pandemic, while national tourism remains very strong.
The rise of tourists from the U.S.
The increase affected both established markets, such as Germany, France and Switzerland, as well as the expanding markets. Particularly relevant are US data, which increased from 220.000 in 2023 to 300.000 in 2024, up 36 percent. Most of US tourists arrive in Gallura: almost 60% of the total.
The performance of Poland, rising from 290.000 to 440.000 attendance (+52 percent), and the Czech Republic, growing from 180.000 to 240.000 (+33 percent) was also strong. Spain also improves from 370.000 to 440.000 attendances (+19 percent).
Top 10 Foreign Countries by Attendance Number
The top ten foreign countries by attendance in Sardinia in 2024 are:
- Germany 2.720.000 attendees
- France 1.310.000
- Switzerland 910.000
- United Kingdom 710.000
- Poland 440.000
- Spain 440.0000
- Netherlands 420.000
- Austria 330.000
- United States of America 300.000
- Czech Republic 240.000
Lombardy first region, sardinians seconds
In 2024, the Lombardy is confirmed as the first Italian region for tourist attendance in Sardinia, with more than 2.17 million attendance and 9.4% growth compared to 2023.
Second, as every year, there are the residents of Sardinia, with 1.37 million official attendances. Although slightly down (–1.7%), Sardinia continues to be a stable and fundamental tourist basin, fueled primarily by short stays, weekends and business.
Lazio, another key market, followed by Piemonte, Emilia-Romagna and Veneto. The estate of Tuscany and Campania is also excellent.
2024 Italian presence in Sardinia – The main regions (in descending order)
- Lombardy – 2.173.905 attendance (+9.4%)
- Sardinia (island residents) – 1.371.955 (–1.7%)
- Lazio – 902.735 (+8.5%)
- Piedmont – 779.138 (+11.4%)
- Emilia-Romagna – 667.401 (+13.2%)
- Veneto – 620.491 (+10.1%)
- Tuscany – 561.048 (+11.1%)
- Campania – 467.819 (+7.2%)
This scenario confirms that national tourism towards Sardinia is still heavily dominated by the regions of North and Central Italy
Hotel vs. extra-hotel attendance
In 2024, Sardinia totaled 10.134.667 attendances at hotel facilities and 8.726.309 attendances at non-hotel facilities, confirming a well-balanced distribution between the two compartments, with an increasingly articulated and segmented tourist offer.
Hotel properties: consolidation and accelerations
The 4-star hotels are confirmed as the backbone of the hotel sector, with 4.837.000 attendees (+13.1%), followed by 3-star hotels with 1.717.000 (+1.7%). The 3-star hotel villages also grew strongly, with 236.000 visitors experiencing an exceptional +183.5% in 2023, a sign of a renewed attractiveness of this receptive formula.
Growing:
- 4-star residential hotels: 384.000 attendance (+32.8%)
- 5 star hotels: 677.000 (+9.3%)
- luxury 5 star hotels: 73.000 (+7.6%), all facilities located in Gallura, between the Emerald Coast and Puntaldia, a testament to the international positioning of northeastern Sardinia.
Other positive changes included hotel dependencies (+13.7%), 1-star hotels (+23.9%) and 2-star rural tourism (+27.9%), which represent smaller but growing segments.
Declining:
- 3-star residential hotels: –0.6%
- rural tourism 4 stars: –3.7%
These slight contractions could reflect a growing polarization of the offer towards luxury or towards more flexible and alternative facilities.
Extra-hotel facilities: booming private rents
The extra-hotel compartment shows extremely lively trends. In the head, the private rental accommodations reach 3.327.000 people, with a record increase of 41.9%, a clear sign of the increasing popularity of short-term rental platforms.
The following:
- campsites: 2.130.000 attendance (+6.7%)
- vacation home/apartments (entrepreneurials): 1.082.000 (+19.9%)
- tenants: 813.000 (+30.0%)
- tourist villages: 569.000 (+27.5%)
Among the smaller facilities, agriculture (+18.0%) performed well. and B&B (+7.2%). Positive signs also for vacation homes and hostels as they decline:
- resort: –4.4%
- marina resort: –1.7%
- inns: –4.9%
- boats & breakfast: –33.3%
The exploit of private housing and tenants highlights the need to update detection and control metrics, given the increasing unintermediate share of tourism demand
An Observatory on Tourism and Sea Economics
“Those of 2024 - emphasized the Councillor Cuccureddu - were really important, extraordinary, unexpected, exciting data. A framework that really gives us hope for 2025.”
The UniOlbia Study Center, in synergy with Cipnes Gallura, continues the work of analysis and interpretation of tourism-related phenomena, with particular attention to recreational boating, private transport and the economic impact of international flows.
The 2024 developments are part of a broader strategy of continuous observation of the tourist evolution of Sardinia, serving businesses, territories and institutions.
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