We may be crowded, Italy warns tourists seeking Med safe haven
IT HAS long been one of the world’s favourite holiday destinations, but Italy fears being swamped by even more tourists this year as concerns over terrorism and civil unrest affect traditional hotspots such as Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt.
The number of visitors is projected to increase sharply as tourists look to Italy as a safe haven, exacerbated by a growing number of Italians holidaying at home, fearful of trouble abroad.
Compared with last year, visitor numbers are predicted to be up five per cent in Venice, six per cent in Florence, nine per cent on Capri in the Bay of Naples and 20 per cent in the Cinque Terre, the string of fishing villages along the coast of Liguria in the north-west.
“Italy is on the positive receiving end of what has happened in Tunisia, Egypt and Turkey, where tourist numbers are down between 25 to 45 per cent,” said David Scowsill, president of the World Travel and Tourism Council. Cities such as Venice have in the past flirted with imposing a cap on the number of tourists, but decided such a limit would be almost impossible to implement.
Instead, the government wants to persuade tourists to visit less wellknown but equally beautiful parts of the country. Instead of swarming all over Capri, for instance, they could head to islands such as the Egadi and Aeolian archipelagoes off Sicily or the little-known Tremiti islands off the coast of Puglia.
The Langhe wine region of Piemonte boasts a beguiling patchwork of hills, vineyards, woodland and meadows, but without the crowds that assault Tuscany and Umbria every year. Centuries-old cities such as Ferrara, Bologna and Mantua offer piazzas, cobbled streets and fine food, far from the maddening crowds that invade Florence.
“The government is studying a strategic plan for tourism with the aim of reducing the overcrowding of the most popular places and offering alternative destinations,” Dorina Bianchi, deputy minister at the cultural heritage department, told La Stampa newspaper.
Another tactic being studied is issuing warnings through holiday booking websites that certain places in Italy are likely to be uncomfortably crowded, particularly during the summer.