The first tourism data for 2025, published on the Puglia Tourism Observatory website, confirms further growth for our Vieste, which remains a favorite destination for Italians. Meanwhile, Bari becomes the leading destination in terms of total volume thanks to the boom in foreign visitors.
Here's how tourism is changing in Puglia
In 2025 Puglia It recorded 22,4 million visitors, marking a paradigm shift from a summer destination for Italian families to an international destination open year-round. Leading this transformation is Bari, which surpasses Vieste in annual visitors, thanks to strong growth in foreign tourism (+592% in ten years) and the increasingly important role of city breaks and cultural trips. Vieste remains popular with Italians, but represents a more seasonal model. 
The “Bari model” also extends to other cities: Monopoli, Ostuni and Lecce are growing rapidly thanks to global flows, while traditional holiday resorts such as Peschici are recording significant declines.
Bari has a low average number of nights per visitor (2,06), but its primacy is also explained by its having become the gateway to Puglia. The success of destinations in its province – such as Monopoli, Polignano a Mare o Castellana Grotte – confirms that the capital is today the major hub from which exploration of the region begins.
Regarding Vieste, the official data speaks clearly: last year, Vieste welcomed approximately 376.000 tourists (visitors to the city), generating nearly 2.2 million overnight stays (the total number of nights spent in our facilities). This represents an increase compared to the excellent 2024 figure, when overnight stays stood at 2.114.076 and arrivals at 356.583. In just one year, Vieste gained over 60.000 additional overnight stays, demonstrating that the Gargano brand remains strong. To these figures, which refer to registered facilities, we will then add—as usual—the estimate of the hidden tourist industry, making the actual influx even more impressive.
The overtaking of Bari 
The real news for 2025, sparking debate among observers and fans, is the change at the top of the overall regional rankings. For the first time, Bari has overtaken Vieste in total attendance.
This statistical overtaking doesn't diminish Vieste's leadership in seaside tourism, but it does capture a momentous shift in travel habits. We're witnessing a structural transformation: the victory of international tourism over local tourism; of those traveling by plane and train over those using their own car. It's a clash between the "continuous journey" (short stops in well-connected art cities like Bari, Monopoli, or Lecce) and the traditional "village" experience, of which Vieste remains the undisputed exponent.
A look into the future
2025 leaves us with one certainty: Vieste is holding steady and growing slightly, but competition with destinations served by high-speed rail and airports is becoming increasingly fierce. The challenge for Vieste's future will be to work to improve services and attract the segment of national and international tourists who currently land in Bari and rarely venture as far as the Spur of Italy.
