With Italy rising up the podium to be dubbed the second world power in tourism 2024, closely following Spain for demand volume, the country’s hotel market is under the spotlight again with investors and operators keen to get in on the act.
Investors and hotel owners are set to meet for the seventh time at the Italian Hospitality Investment Conference (ITHIC) 2025, widely considered the ‘cutting edge’ for hospitality opportunities in Italy. Taking place this year on September 25 and 26, once again in the stunning surroundings of Hotel Villa Pamphili, Rome, ITHIC 2025 will feature stand-out speakers including Ofer Arbib, CEO of Colliers Global Investors Italy, Elisabetta Fabri, President & CEO of Starhotels Group and David Fattal, Founder and Chairman Fattal Hotel Group – plus many more leaders and experts.
This year’s focus will be identifying the most relevant and timely opportunities in hospitality real estate. According to organisers, the ‘cutting edge’ for hospitality opportunities is not just a theme for the event – but is a call to act, to respond to change, rethink investment strategies, and adapt to new market conditions.
Over two days, investors, developers, operators, and brands will meet to share insights, present projects, and build new business connections. The agenda will cover trends, capital flows, and strategies for creating value in today’s market.
Italy’s dynamic investment market
Italian hospitality deal volumes for the first half of 2025 are already displaying double digit increases year-on-year, with competition increasing among buyers and interest in Italy’s hospitality capital markets rising further.
Yet investors that are serious about the market need to understand its further intricacies in order to succeed in the country. Despite Italy’s impressive global ranking for visitor numbers, having reached 460 million overnight stays in 2024, comparing favourably to Spain’s 501 million guest nights, the country’s tourism outlook faces several challenges today.
One aspect of this is varying volumes of travellers, amid Italy’s dependence on tourism flows from the US, the UK and Germany in particular. These markets have all displayed signs of turbulence in their fundamentals during the first half of 2025, and as the third quarter of the year advances, room receipts illustrate fluctuations in some areas.
However, data from ENIT confirms that Italy remains one of the most popular holiday destinations for summer 2025, noting that bookings for Easter 2025 rose by around 17 percent year-on-year, with some 27 million overseas tourists in total expected to visit the country over the summer. Another positive trend is the continuing rise of secondary locations, from mountain resorts in Cortina to country house estates in Apulia, which underline Italy’s strength in depth.
The latest intelligence at ITHIC
For the seventh year in a row, ITHIC will host discussions on the future of hospitality development and investment in Italy, while offering detailed insights into the market’s dynamics. Sector experts at the conference will bring their ideas and knowledge to share opportunities, solutions and to help drive Italy’s capital markets.
Protagonists of the global hospitality landscape that plan to attend include Auberge Resorts, Marriott, Accor, Corinthia, Belmond, Minor, Maybourne and Starhotels. In total, the conference will host over 50 investors and asset managers including some of the most active in the EMEA region, such as Reuben Brothers, EQ Group, Dekus, Brookfield, Trinity, PGIM, Corum AM, BNP Paribas and many others.
Key sessions at ITHIC 2025
Delegates at ITHIC 2025 can expect to tee up plenty of business at this year’s event. CEO panels will concentrate on future challenges for tourism and competitiveness in Italy, while talks on capital markets will cover the opportunities for owner-operators in Italy’s relatively non-liquid market.
Those attending ITHIC 2025 can also expect talks on the future of hospitality in the country, with sessions exploring everything from luxury opportunities to the country’s development challenges.
A completely new session, Brands Ambassadors, will showcase the latest brands and collections from some of the world’s top chains, that are expected to land in Italy in the coming years.
There will also be resources for investors and operators keen to explore alternative markets, thanks to new sessions dedicated to fast-growing second-tier destinations, such as Cortina, Apulia, the Tuscan countryside and Turin.
For those focused on the full lifecycle of a hotel, panels and technical presentations will cover everything from valuations, transactions and deal volumes to construction and asset management best practices. There will also be an opportunity to learn more about current M&A trends, legal case studies and more, in both panels and open-session roundtables.
A brand-new format will also make its debut at this year’s ITHIC, namely the CEO Council by Questex. This special roundtable, dedicated to “making hospitality sexy again”, will tackle topics including the demands and expectations of the latest generation, as well as looking at the outlook for the industry’s workforce.
ITHIC will take place on September 25th and 26th in Rome, two days before the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) Global Summit reaches the Eternal City.
To purchase tickets for the ITHIC event, visit this link and use Questex's discount code 15Questex for 15% off.