A sold out mid-August, sea, mountains and lakes

ROME, AUGUST 14 - Difficult, if not impossible, to find an umbrella still free on the most popular beaches of the peninsula, the possibility of booking a cool spot in a mountain center is now out of the question. Even the campsites are happily sold out on the red-hot mid-August of Lucifer. After months of sacrifices and tight belts, thanks to the difficulty of going abroad, the world of tourism, at least the national one, breathes a sigh of relief. One out of two Italians, the research offices of all the associations in the sector have been hammering for days, has decided to spend at least the August 15th weekend away from home, between 13 and 16 August, today underlines a research promoted by Assoturisti, there are an estimated 11, 5 million overnight stays and 1.4 billion in tourist spending. And it is the online, once again, that pulls the most with the89% of the available rooms booked. The sea and the mountains are depopulated, the lakes with reservations that even reach the peak of 95% of the availability, but also the countryside and the hills in these hours are stormed in these hours, 86.7% of the rooms available in the localities green of the country have been booked. Spas and wellness centers return to populate themselves, at least 75.6% full. While the cities of art still suffer, victims of the ferocious heat and the long wave of Covid: the tourists are there, experts indicate, but the growth trend for city structures is currently very slight (77.3%). It goes without saying that the most assaulted regions are the Alpine ones, Trentino Alto Adige, Valle d'Aosta and the stars of the beaches, Puglia, Sicily and Sardinia.But among the most popular regions there are also Marche and Abruzzo. "Now it is important to avoid slowdowns", underlines Vittorio Messina, president of Assoturismo Confesercenti, concerned, in particular, by the possibility that gatherings and consequent contagions trigger new restrictions in the most touristic regions. "You can no longer close - he warns - we must rather learn to live with the virus". The tourist Green Pass is therefore welcome, but it underlines with an appeal to the government, "it must be made less onerous and easier to manage for businesses". In fact, the important thing is that everyone, first and foremost tourists "respect the rules", also ask the managers of the establishments from all over Italy. The covid forced everyone to review the more traditional rites of this August festival,the parties will be held but with all caution, above all the bonfires are banned, with all the ensuing gatherings, prohibited by law and common sense. After so many discontent and protests, the green pass, however, does not seem to have curbed the Italians' desire for escape and relaxation. This is demonstrated by the Romagna Riviera, a classic destination for summer fun with nightlife that never stops in Rimini and Riccione, because if it is true that foreigners are few this year, the Italians forced by the pandemic to choose destinations closer to home have returned. . If you toast on the beach, even the museums return to smile, at least the public ones, mostly open as has been customary for some years now, even on August 15th. At the Colosseum Park despite the scorching temperatures that besiege the capital,from Saturday 7th to 13th August 54086 tickets were sold with 92531 entrances between the Colosseum and the Forum-Palatine Hill. At the Borghese Gallery, also in Rome, where the splendid exhibition by Damien Hirst is currently underway, the visits mark a full house and the same goes for the Domus Aurea. In Paestum there are over 1300 tourists a day, over 1400 those of Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome. The impossible heat does not discourage visits even to Pompeii, where in these days there are those who in these days resort to an umbrella to protect themselves from the sun: thanks to the opening to the public of the latest extraordinary discoveries, visitors in the last week were 63,271.visits are sold out and so do the Domus Aurea. In Paestum there are over 1300 tourists a day, over 1400 those of Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome. The impossible heat does not discourage visits even to Pompeii, where in these days there are those who in these days resort to an umbrella to protect themselves from the sun: thanks to the opening to the public of the latest extraordinary discoveries, visitors in the last week were 63,271.visits are sold out and so do the Domus Aurea. In Paestum there are over 1300 tourists a day, over 1400 those of Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome. The impossible heat does not discourage visits even to Pompeii, where in these days there are those who in these days resort to an umbrella to protect themselves from the sun: thanks to the opening to the public of the latest extraordinary discoveries, visitors in the last week were 63,271.