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First off, the three books of the Divine Comedy are generally referred to as canticas. Inferno is the first cantica; I would assume that was the word you were looking for.
As to the significance of the work, Dante was the first poet to describe Hell, Purgatory and Heaven in detail. Virgil's most significant work was the Aenid, which is a classical Roman poem in the vein of the Homeric works. Dante chose to use Virgil as a guide because he personally admired Virgil, who was considered to be one of the great poets at the time, much how Dante himself is viewed today. Dante states that Virgil had previously traveled Hell not because Virgil has described Hell in any of his prior works, but because Virgil is Dante's guide and therefore needs to be familiar with the surroundings; it's a literary device. Also, because Virgil was a Roman pagan, he would be consigned to Limbo and thus a denizen of Hell himself. Aristotle did not document a trip through Hell in the Catholic sense either; given that he lived about 300 years before the birth/death of Christ and founding of the religion, he would've been showing remarkable foresight to do so.
Inferno itself is significant as one of three canticas; the whole work together is one of the most important pieces of classical literature out there. Why? Well, as mentioned, Dante was one of the first poets to really go into the details of Hell, Purgatory and Heaven, describing their structure and exactly what sorts of torments and rewards were available. Since Catholicism is the most influential religion in the world, a significant work like this is important by association in much the same way that much of the music of the era that has become significant is religious in nature.
Aside from that, the Divine Comedy is in it's whole a classic piece of Bangsian literature and a hero's journey. It's an allegorical work on par, some would say, with Homer himself. It's informed a large number of later works and continues to do so even today. I suspect that much of the brilliance of the poem is diminished by translation (it always is), yet it's impossible not to admire the imagery. Even the structure of the poem is well thought out; consider that there are three cantica, each consisting of thirty-three cantos (plus one extra canto as an introduction, where Dante meets the beasts and encounters Virgil).
I would say it's a little narrow-minded to assume that the work is only significant to Italian literature. Doing so is akin to stating that Shakespeare is only significant to the English, which isn't really true (Shakespeare's merits of lack thereof being fodder for another thread; I won't sidetrack here). A classic piece of literature is something that can and should be admired by everyone. It's origin has little bearing on the matter I think, except insofar as the few cultural references are harder to understand without an understanding of the relevant history.
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I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said
- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame
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