Tunisia, Albania, Greece, the Red Sea and Spain are new low-cost destinations for Italian tourists, while in Sardinia foreigners spend five-figure sums for a dreamy seven days on the island. Italy has taken a sharp turn to luxury tourism, forcing its citizens to look beyond national borders thanks to years of stagnant and below-European average salaries. What is going on, but first of all, what will be the effects of these changes on our country?
Italians are crazy about Spain, Greece, Albania and Egypt
We are witnessing the delocalization of tourism in Italy: if Italian families chose our peninsula for their summer holidays, fewer and fewer people can now spend their holidays in Italy. The problem is not just inflation, it is seen that there is a strong will to turn towards tourists who ‘spend a lot of money’ in the sector, that is, those who can spend tens of thousands of euros to have an unforgettable holiday dream. our tourism centers. Predominantly American, Chinese and Arab, they love art, food, fashion and shopping.
It goes without saying that only a few Italians can afford luxury holidays, and so others, including the middle class, who have always supported the industry, find themselves compelled to look elsewhere. Most sought-after low-cost destinations? The Balkans or North Africa, where price lists are slightly cheaper.
And so we witness a -20% presence in Puglia (but with a boom in luxury tourism) and ferries filled with Italian tourists to Albania. In an ironic post, Albanian prime minister Edi Rama compared the ships going from Bari to Albania to Albanian immigrants going to Vlora in 1991 to go to Italy. With more than 610,000 visitors in 2021. Italian tourism in Spain, Greece and Egypt is also on the rise, thanks to proximity and above all convenience.
“From Gargano to Salento, prices on Apulian beaches are much higher than in Greece and Albania,” says Adoc Puglia. In Gallipoli, for example, a family of four can spend up to 500 Euros for a day at the beach (including consumption in the restaurant) and a night in a hostel”.
Spending spree of foreigners in Sardinia
If Puglia has become expensive, things are no better in Sardinia. Tourists from abroad to Costa Smeralda are willing to spend up to 300,000 Euros for a week of extra luxury in the most famous places of the island: helicopter, sports car, mega yacht, dreamy villa with private pool for transfer to and from the airport. Suffice to say that they are paid up to 15,000 euros for an evening at the disco, while the average annual gross salary of employees in Italy is around 27,000 euros (Istat data).
Tourism in Sardinia has changed its face over the past few years, becoming an increasingly special destination, but the same is happening in other seaside resorts such as Salento, where there is an increase in prices for access to beaches, restaurants and accommodation. The same goes for major Italian art cities plagued by overtourism. Visitors to Venice, Florence, and Rome in July discovered that these destinations were becoming prohibitively expensive for Italian tourists. Stunning prices are recorded not only for accommodation and food and beverage, but also for services.
Increasingly expensive art cities
Let’s take a concrete example with the city of Florence: for an apartment 20 minutes’ walk from the city centre, you need at least 130 euros per night. You have to pay 24 euros to park your car on the blue lines all day, then there is the 5.50 euro tourist tax. In short, a family of 4 can spend 370 Euros excluding food for two days in the capital of Florence. If we add 26 euros for a visit to the Uffizi Galleries (for adults only), 30 euros per person for Brunelleschi’s dome and Giotto’s bell tower (reduced price 12 euros), and 8 euros for the Santa Croce Museum, then we get: 500 euros exceeds . A real loss considering it’s only two days, we’re talking minimally and we didn’t take food and transportation into account. So let’s not dramatize if a family of three in a restaurant ‘only’ wants to order the first and second course and then share plates, which is sometimes charged (2 euros as in a restaurant in Finalborgo in Finale Ligure). .
How will tourism change in Italy?
At this rate, Italian tourism cities will become more suitable for foreign tourists and the most beautiful seaside destinations will become the privilege of the rich. Maldives is notoriously forbidden, but so are those in Salento in Marina di Pescoluse. Say goodbye to the small tourism businesses that feed so many families, because with this goal there is only room for those who have large sums to invest, who can redevelop the offer and then demand higher sums. Others will be left empty-handed, without customers, as they fly abroad due to high prices.
Let’s be clear, no one wants to demonize luxury tourism, which is nice because it enriches the country but on the other hand, it impoverishes you if you decide to parameterize everything according to this kind of demand. This drastic change of destination kills off national tourism by the middle class, those who reside in Bel Paese and have every right and desire to enjoy its beauty. And so new generations of Italians will find themselves visiting the Acropolis of Athens but never set foot in the Colosseum, the second most visited monument in the world by foreigners.
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Source: Today IT
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
