The region of Veneto welcomes more foreign visitors than any other Italian region, according to the latest figures released by the Agenzia Nazionale del Turismo and ENIT (the Italian state tourism authority) and recently published in the national daily newspaper Corriere della Sera.

Veneto, which includes Venice, Verona and the beaches of the Adriatic hosted well over 40 million foreign tourist presences last season. A surprising second was Trentino Alto Adige, where the unspoiled scenery, winter ski resorts and summer treks attract, in fact, 25,722 million mountain lovers. Tuscany came next, with 22,307m., closely followed by Lazio (with Rome) and a total of 20,516m.. Lombardy, with its fashion and shopping capital, Milan, and Lake Garda drew just over 19 million foreigners.

The other regions chalked up considerably less presences, with beautiful, little known areas like Molise and Basilicata just waiting to be discovered!

Most numerous foreign visitors to Italy were Germans, followed by North Americans and French.