After France and Spain, Italy is the most visited country in all of Europe. Each year, more than forty million guests tour its most famous cities. These tourists spend around thirty billion pounds per year, which makes them vital to the Italian economy.

Unfortunately, like most nations that rely on revenue from tourism, Italy has suffered mightily during the global recession. From 2008 to 2009, for example, the tourism industry in Italy fell by nearly four billion pounds, or ten percent. Will the numbers improve? That's hard to say.

Around eighty percent of the tourists that come to Italy are from Europe. And though most of these countries have emerged from the recession, they are still battling record levels of debt and unemployment. The UK, for example, has seen a decrease in foreign tourism of twelve percent. The same trend seems to extend to Rome apartments

The overwhelming majority of tourists that visit Italy come to see its resplendent and historic cities. Rome, Florence, Milan and Venice each welcome several million guests a year. At last count, Rome is the most popular destination with over four million arrivals.

Because tourism to the city has fallen rather sharply, hotels in the Eternal city have had to lower their room rates by as much as ten percent. There are also holiday rentals in Rome that can often be reserved for twenty to thirty percent less than a comparable hotel room. Just make sure you book your room in advance, they tend to go rather fast.