The Pope Effect: Rome's Tourist Sector Expects Leo to Lure His Fellow Americans

Even before the chimney on the Sistine Chapel emitted its last puff of white smoke, signaling that the Catholic Church had a new pope, Atlante Star, a hotel with a privileged view over St. Peter's Basilica from its rooftop terrace, began to receive inquiries about room availability.

- Angela Giuffrida

Then, about an hour later, when the Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Prevost was declared Pope Leo XIV, the inquiries turned into bookings as tourists, mostly from the US, rushed to secure a room in Rome for the pontiff's inaugural Sunday mass on May 18.

"Some made tentative bookings, but when the date was announced, things really started to move," said Federico Mencucci, the hotel's owner. "We are now mostly full with people from North America, and not just pilgrims."

US visitors, appreciated for traditionally being generous spenders and tippers, already make up the largest cohort of tourists in the Italian capital, with a record 2.5 million visiting in 2024.

Now the city is counting on being blessed with even more, driven by what the Italian newspapers are calling the "effetto Papa Leone XIV"—the Pope Leo XIV effect.

Gelato makers are conjuring up "Papa Leone" flavors to appeal to US tastes, while a bar in the vicinity of the Vatican is hoping to attract customers by promoting a beer named after the new pope.