Restaurants? The main driver of tourist spending in Sardinia. This is what emerges from the final report on tourism 2025 from the Regional Department of Tourism, which analyzes visitor spending using Mastercard data and captures consumer habits during their stay on the island.

According to the report, restaurants represent 21.25% of total tourist spending , making them the most important product category ahead of supermarkets and specialty food shops (19.37%), hotels (14.42%) and clothing (8.68%).

The restaurant sector also recorded a 17% growth compared to 2024, confirming the positive trend already highlighted the previous year, when the increase was 25%.

The bar, wine bar, and wine and spirits sector also continues to grow, recording a 20% increase in spending.

"These data confirm something we as entrepreneurs observe daily: today, restaurants are not simply a service available to tourists, but have become one of the main factors making Sardinia an increasingly attractive destination," says Emanuele Frongia , president of Fipe Confcommercio Sud Sardegna. "The fact that over 21% of visitors' spending," he continues, "is spent on restaurants demonstrates how central our food and wine offerings are to the travel experience. Behind these numbers are entrepreneurs who invest every day in quality, hospitality, the promotion of local products, and the professionalism of their staff. Restaurants are one of Sardinia's main ambassadors around the world and represent a strategic element of the entire tourism industry."

However, Frongai also draws attention to the challenges facing the sector: "To consolidate this growth, policies that support businesses are needed: investments in training, measures to facilitate the recruitment of qualified personnel, greater seasonal adjustment of tourist flows, and more efficient and competitive connections. Tourism continues to grow, but we must create the conditions for this development to translate into stable value for businesses , workers, and the entire region."

Finally, the report shows that other categories are also recording positive performances: supermarkets and specialty food stores grew by 16%, shopping by 16%, clothing by 12%, while hotels recorded a 6% increase. These figures confirm the strength of the regional tourism system and the increasingly central role of public establishments in Sardinia's economy.

(Unioneonline/AD)

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