With around 3,500 athletes and countless fans descending on Milan and its surrounding towns for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 this month, hotels in the Italian region are poised to succeed during the two-week event.
But the 2026 Winter Olympics presents a unique opportunity for hotels across Northern Italy hoping to capture roomnight demand and travel spend during the Games, which take place from Feb. 6-22.
Events take place across 15 venues. Milan will host events in figure skating, ice hockey, speed skating and short-track speed skating. The other 12 sports will be held in various mountain locales in the area, centered on the resort destination of Cortina d’Ampezzo in the Dolomites mountain range. Milan is approximately 200 miles southwest of Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Cortina d'Ampezzo is not a large hotel market, either. The largest hotel in Cortina d’Ampezzo by room count is the 132-room Grand Hotel Savoia Cortina d’Ampezzo, a Radisson Collection Hotel, an Art Nouveau hotel, which opened in 1912. According to CoStar, Milan-based Quinta Capital SGR acquired the hotel in October 2021 for approximately €68.5 million ($80 million) after a complete renovation before the company rebranded in December 2023 as SGR, part of pan-European owner Praemia REIM. The Grand Hotel Savoia Cortina d’Ampezzo is operated by Tavagnacco, Italy-based Fincos Gestioni S.R.L.
There are only two other hotels with more than 100 rooms in Cortina d’Ampezzo. The budget B&B Hotel Cortina Passo Tre Croci opened in 2021, and the 122-room Miramonti Majestic Grand Hotel first opened in 1902. The latter was featured in scenes from the James Bond movie “For Your Eyes Only.”
Most hotels in Cortina d’Ampezzo, though, are family-owned, smaller properties, with a room count ranging between 11 and 92 rooms, according to CoStar data. On Feb. 2, the 66-room Bellevue Hotel in Cortina d’Ampezzo, owned by asset management firm Castello Sgr fund Five Lakes — whose principal shareholders are Invel Real Estate and Prodea Investments — said it has agreed a €50 million loan to finance its redevelopment and expansion. By the end of the year, the hotel will reopen with 107 rooms and be rebranded under Accor’s luxury soft brand Emblems Collection.
Environmental considerations will be a big part of the 2026 Winter Olympics. Cortina d’Ampezzo's is a high-altitude Alpine resort, and sustainable tourism practices factor in when events are spread out in a region.
Chloe Parkins, lead economist at Tourism Economics, underlined the games’ green credentials.
“The [Games] are positioning themselves as a blueprint for more sustainable mega-events by spreading competitions across a network of towns and cities. This should minimize crowding and displacement effects, aligning with Europe’s sustainable tourism strategies,” she said. “We expect that this should distribute tourism benefits more widely for local economies, businesses and residents.”
Milan's expected Olympic demand
Tourism Economics predicts The Winter Olympics should increase the number of Italy's annual international visitors before, during and after the Games, Parkins said.
“International travel demand is projected to surge beyond the event weeks, with arrivals to Italy reaching 66.7 million in 2026, a 9.3% increase over 2025,” Parkins said in a supplementary Tourism Economics news release.
Milan, as the principal transportation hub for the games, is predicted to see hotel demand growth of 10.7% across 2026, and hotel room nights in Northern Italy are predicted to outpace national trends, Parkins added.
“Domestic travel will hold up better than usual during a mega-event, with nights spent in Italy to rise 5% on last year, reaching 229 million in 2026. This comes as a greater distribution across venues and better rail access should reduce the congestion that typically deters some travel,” she said.
STR Manager of Analytics Kelsey Fenerty and STR Data Forecasting Analyst Paulina Golec wrote a Winter Olympics preview for the Games' anticipated impact on Milan's hotels. According to projections, Milan’s hotel occupancy could reach 77.9% for the month of February, “which would be its highest February occupancy level on record, representing an 8.2% increase in the metric year over year,” Fenerty and Golec wrote.
Plus, the Milano Fashion Week 2026 starts on Feb. 24, two days after the Winter Olympics' Closing Ceremony, which should further boost hotel performance in the market in February.