Matera tourist stays up 152% in 7 yrs (2)

(ANSA) - Rome, April 6 - The southern Italian city of Matera became a star among art cities well before its proclamation as European cultura capital 2019, with a 152.4% rise in tourist stays over the last seven years, a survey from the Florence Tourist Study Centre showed. The study, presented Thursday at the launch of the 21st Tourism Bourse for Italy's Top 100 Art Cities, also highlighted Padua (+44.9%), Verona (+44.7%), Rome (+30.6%), Bologna (+26.5%), Florence (+25.2%) and Venice (+22.3%). The Bourse also heard that tourism in Italy's art cities rose by 2.4% over the last 20 years and by 3% in 2016.
    In 2016 there were a total of 41.5 million arrivals (36.2% of total tourist arrivals in Italy), with the ranks of foreigners rising to now account for 70% of the total.