Since the 1930s Riccione gained the status of a main destination of summer tourism on the Adriatic riviera of Romagna, and, together with Rimini, is one of the best known seaside resorts in Northern Italy. Every two years, a festival called the festival del sol takes place in the city of riccione.

Tourism in Riccione is massive, including mostly young people attracted by its great nightlife. The Adriatic coast in Emilia Romagna is called Riviera Romagnola and it has plenty of night clubs. Riccione also attracts families with children, thanks to its theme parks, hotels organize baby sitting for kids all day in the hotel and on the beach.

The scores of hotels on the Riviera, one next to the other, determine the large amount of tourists flowing there in summer. The main streets of Riccione, viale Dante and viale Ceccarini have numerous night spots, bars, and hotels, in the night and they are the best place for shopping and eating during the day. The seafront is a long boulevard, shaped by a road and an equally developed bicycle lane, that reaches up to the town's end going along the sea.

Cycling is popular in the Emilia Romagna area and a number of Riccione's hotels have teamed up to capitalise on this. These hotels provide specific facilities for cycling tourists, including bike hire, cycle storage and tour guides.

One of the main event in Riccione beaches is the pink night, where the city becomes pink. There are parties on the beaches all the night for an entire week end and it is possible to see the Adriatic coast becoming pink for all the magnificent fireworks.