In the past ten years Italy has become the travel destination of the world. With stunning views, good food, and dozens of beaches to cool off at, it's no surprise that the Amalfi coast has turned into the top tourist destination in the world. Celebrities have been coming here for decades, from John Steinbeck in the 1950's to more recently Ariana Grande, everyone wants their slice of Italian heaven. In the beginning, Italians were happy to share the beauty of their country with the world and show everyone the Italian way of life.
As an American journalist, I was excited to get an inside look into the culture by interviewing local business and Italian residents. Everyone I interviewed though seemed to say the same thing, there are too many tourists and they don't stay long enough. At first I thought they meant there was just too much traffic, and growing up in a city I understood what they meant. But by the fourth time someone mentioned it, I was curious and began asking more questions.
I decided to look at three different time periods. I began my research in 2008 which around ten years ago seemed like a good reference point. In 2008, the Italian population was around 59.62 million people. That year, around 41 million tourists also entered Italy either on business or for vacation. These tourists who stayed in hotels on average, stayed about 3.7 days and would spend 418 euros in total on accommodations alone. Others who decided to stay in hostels or airbnbs, spent on average 7.5 days and would spend 225 euros in total on their accommodations. Italian residents who were traveling within Italy would often stay a day longer on their vacations compared to their foreign counterparts.
I then looked at the 2015 tourism statistics. In 2015, the population was around 60.8 million people and saw 55 million people travel to Italy for business or vacation. On average, these people would stay in hotels for 3.8 days or in other accommodations for 6.5 days. The average costs of hotels and other accommodations increased to 413 euros for hotels and 396.5 euros for other accommodations.
Three years later, the national population of Italy was about 59.2 million people. About 63 million tourists came to Italy for work or vacation. This is about 22 million more people in decade who visited Italy. It's also 8 million people more than the three years prior to it. For reference, there are 8.6 million people living in New York City currently and about 62 million people visit the Big Apple every year. In 2015 alone, more people in the world visited Italy than
The tourists in Italy however would stay in hotels for about 3.2 days, and stay in other accommodations for about 6.2 days. The prices for hotels and accommodations stayed roughly the same from 2015 to 2018 which was surprising considering the drastic increase in tourists.
Even though prices for hotels and accommodations remained the same, tourists wanted an Italian Crash Course rather than living the relaxed lifestyle. Rather than sitting down for the traditional four course meal surrounded by friends and family, they take the tour busses to get a quick glimpse of centuries of culture and history in the shortest amount of time possible. While they learn nothing and experience less, they have the photos on their phone and the instagram picture to go with it. Photographs, rather than experience or relaxation seem to be the main focus of many of the vacations to Italy.
Some business are thriving during this tourist boom. With an increase of 38 euros to average hotel costs in the past decade, this has lead from the 2008 hotel revenue from 5000 million to a 2018 to over 6000 million (according to trading economics findings). Many local business have seen a decreased interest in shopping from tourists in the past decade.
Since tourists are speed-dating Italy, they now don't have the time to meander through the shops and buy the fashion or art that truly makes Italy so special and unique. While more people walk past the shops, less people stop inside of them.
Locals are also getting frustrated with the way tourists are choosing to see Italy. Families are more and more frequently choosing to travel with large families which then require large cars. Instead of daring to try public transportation, they often go for the private tours or taxi vans. These larger cars or buses can't fit down the narrow Italian roads. Although that may not stop them from trying. Traffic then builds up causing drivers to be impatient and more accidents to happen.
While tourists spending less time in Italy isn't the immediate cause of traffic accidents, locals can agree that the increase in accidents and the increase in tourists have a surprising correlation.
Read the article here.