Tourists splash out 1 bn euros a year on Milan shopping

Milan, Aug 26 (IANS/AKI) Tourists spend a staggering 1 billion euros annually on shopping sprees in Italy’s fashion capital, Milan, according to a study by the city’s chamber of commerce.

The designer stores near the city’s gothic cathedral are the biggest draw, but the elegant Corso Vittorio Emanuele is also popular with tourist shoppers.

Stores in the less central but increasingly trendy via Torino and via Buenos Aires do good business. Also, 75 percent of tourists in Milan have come to the northern city to shop, and Germans and Spaniards are the most numerous, the study said.

American, Russian and Japanese shoppers have tightened their belts during the recession and fewer have been visiting, the study found.

–IANS/AKI