Italy wants to further limit mass tourism. In addition to Venice and South Tyrol, regions such as Liguria have also introduced measures - not without resistance.
Rome - Since 2024, various regions in Italy have increased their measures to mitigate the negative consequences of mass tourism: In Venice, groups of over 25 people are banned, and from April 25th, visitors to Venice must buy a day ticket, but only on certain days . And in South Tyrol the so-called bed stop has been in effect since 2023: “We have reached the limit of our resources, we had problems with traffic and the residents are having difficulty finding affordable living space,” said South Tyrolean Provincial Councilor Arnold Schuler in April 2023.
As the South Tyrol News
portal
writes, the Cinque Terre in Liguria, among others, have now introduced new measures that are intended to stop the rush of visitors. Not all of them are undisputed, not even in the regions themselves.
Cinque Terre: Villages in Liguria want to keep millions of tourists away
The Cinque Terre has become more and more a “tourism of the moment”, says a resident on BR television - tourists come to have been there once, or to post about it on social media, as another local says. As
Südtirol News
writes, over 2.5 million people would have visited the villages in 2023 alone - which together only have around 9,000 inhabitants.
From mid-March, tourists would now have to pay twice as much for train journeys between the villages on weekends and public holidays as well as between July and August - but residents would receive discounts. According to
cinqueterre.eu,
you have to pay an entrance fee to hike on two coastal paths - in the most expensive age category and high season the fee is 32.50 euros. According to
Südtirol News,
the introduction of increased transport fees is met
with incomprehension locally: Since most visitors come from far away, the measures would not deter anyone, but would place too much of a burden on families once they are there.
The villages are said to have taken action against flip flops on the hiking trails years ago - in the video:
Italy against mass tourism: Lampedusa and
According to
Südtirol News,
Capri has also increased its landing fee for ships. And the island of Lampedusa has introduced something similar: here, tourists can only access the famous “rabbit beach” for a fee.
For Italy, all measures remain a balancing act: While climate change could make southern Europe less attractive, and ongoing inflation could shift tourism to cheaper countries, in southern Europe at least 10 percent of gross domestic product can be attributed to tourism. Travel enthusiasts are convinced: Away from the peak season and hotspots, Italy's dolce vita can also be experienced in lesser-known regions - such as in the family-run Italian agritourismo. (cat)