TOURISM RESHUFFLE URGENTLY NEEDE

This article was recently quoted in Debra Kolkka's blog "Bagni di Lucca and beyond" and other blogs. It is a recent article from The New York  Times and I find its contents frightening, but very true. The southern regions are not properly promoted and, from our own experience, Naples is a fascinating city and the Costiera Amalfitana and Paestum are simply wonderful and highly recommended. And I am only mentioning Campania... the South has much to offer. Just have a look and tell us what you think. Personally, I am appalled!
The New York Times article

Looks like they are in double need!

Ah yes I  thought, this looks familiar, but I had looked at it via the blog.... I would love to see it, but I can't ever see it ever being any different....  

Let's see if Renzi does something about it...

I agree Gala, the Amalfi Coast, Bay of Naples area is some of the best in the whole of Italy for scenery, weather, people and food. The problem I perceive of Napoli is that a few years ago it received so much bad press over the heath risks and the mountains of rubbish strewn about, that it takes a while for people to get over this; couple this with the Cammora and their fingers in so many pies then a huge PR exercise if long overdue.
The areas further south Basilicatta and Calabria are absolutely beautiful, but also very poor which is reflected in the infrastructure and lack of investment and jobs; that is an area that could do with a massive Tourist PR job.

Yes, Flip, I agree, some areas in the south will need an enormous amount of work and investment and it is a pity, because there are real treasures there. In general, Italy is not getting the benefit from tourism that is deserved. A pity, as it also generates a lot of employment, which is badly needed.

Italy needs more than tourism (although I totally agree it does) and I can't see Renzi making any difference (very quiet on the Renzi front). I would be very happy indeed if he did, but it will take more than one different thinking Italian to make change things here.  They also need to look at selling what they do well - wine and food... along with some of the other quality goods they still produce and building on that.

Im not a Beppe Severgnini fan, he makes sweeping generalisations and has tried to set himself as Italy'sBill Bryson.  I also dont agree with his article.  Parts of it are true, but you mention Italy to Americans and they say Rome, Venice and Florence - all in the north.  Pompei even in its delapidated state gets 2 million visitors a year.  I was in Naples 10 days ago, there were tourists everywhere.  Amalfi, Sorrento, POsitano are packed to the gunnels in summer.  On Ischia the first language is German.  Taormina is a constant snail trail of foreigners with ice creams.   
All of this is not to say that a decent investment in infrastructure wouldnt help.  Its true that the train services are dire.  When I was in Metaponto I noticed that they have built an IMAX cinema in the middle of field paid for no doubt by Europe, and not something that will attract tourists in their thousands.  But - in the summer you cant budge for northern Italians who decry the south, but love their holidays there.   Here in Sicily, I live in the only Italian province that does not have an autostrada.   But, we get tourists - 40.000 people in Modica for madonna Vasa Vasa on Easter Day - which double the usual amount.  We have tourism, but its a different sort of tourism - we dont get the cruise liners, and the package tours that 'do' Italy in 4 days - here the tourist is a ABC1 who wants to savour 'authentic' Sicily, stay a while and is interested in food, culture, history and art.    Decent trasnport links would certainly help, so would churches that opened, museums with funding allowing them to open, and so on - but merely listing what doesnt work, doesnt help.  And the south doesnt cater for tourists who want the theme park squeaky clean version of Italy - its gritty and real and you have to invest time and energy to get the most of it - and long may it remain so.

Have to say

Modi wrote:...its gritty and real and you have to invest time and energy to get the most of it - and long may it remain so...

any change would worry me that this real side of Italy would disappear...

did anyone other than Gala or Steve read my missive from Sicily? Just fly to Palermo - of course the infrastructure south of Naples is a mess. There was more rubbish on the sides of Vesuvius than Etna. It is a problem which will take time to be resolved but it is being resolved- pazienza!

There is a lot to be done, and this does not mean destroying the environment. Simply giving more facilities and effectively promoting the area. This, in turn, will mean more employment and'opportunities for the locals.

When you compare the history of Naples with say the history of Paris (which I'm guessing gets many more tourists), I think Naples has just as much to offer tourists but doesn't grab the tourist attention that Paris does.

I think you have to consider the audience Severgnini is addressing.  I don't believe he was trying to produce a penetrating analysis of what's wrong, just a quick article to give the casual reader a vague idea of the complexities involved, i.e. there are several reasons why Naples (and indeed the south of Italy more generally) isn't more visited by Americans.  But he thinks more people should visit and he thinks that tourism would make a huge difference to the economy of the south.  

I do not think that the article - although it is published by The New York Times - is addressed to American readers only. It is quite possible that many people access, as I do, quite a few newspapers from different corners of the world. And I think that Severgnini got his message across, even if this was a summary. The point is that there is serious mismanagement of funds which should be devoted to the promotion of tourism and a severe lack of infrastrucure.

Gala Placidia wrote:There is a lot to be done, and this does not mean destroying the environment. Simply giving more facilities and effectively promoting the area. This, in turn, will mean more employment and'opportunities for the locals.

I don't think destroying the environment was the only concern, it was more the feel and down to earth nature - and the people!

And will sustainable tourism destroy the people or the way of life... or nature itself? Unemployment or abandoning villages, because of lack of resources, will cause more harm. A balance is needed.

Gala Placidia wrote:And will sustainable tourism destroy the people or the way of life... or nature itself? Unemployment or abandoning villages, because of lack of resources, will cause more harm. A balance is needed.

.. don't worry about what you can't see G...

Gala Placidia wrote:I do not think that the article - although it is published by The New York Times - is addressed to American readers only. It is quite possible that many people access, as I do, quite a few newspapers from different corners of the world. And I think that Severgnini got his message across, even if this was a summary. The point is that there is serious mismanagement of funds which should be devoted to the promotion of tourism and a severe lack of infrastrucure.

No, I didn't mean to imply that only Americans would read it (although I'll bet the readership is primarily american).  I was responding more to the criticism that Severgnini makes sweeping generalisations which in this case I reckon are more or less appropriate in an article of this type.  

As regards marketing, in addition to the mismanaged funds, there seem to me to be many improvements that could also be made that don't cost a lot of money.  In the area of Italy that I know,  for example, one sees signs for La strada del vino which don't lead the tourist to participating vineyards.  Consequently you can chance upon a sign, think it might be something worth exploring and then there's not enough information to guide you there.   I'm sure there are many other equivalent examples.

I disagree. Sweeping generalisations dont help anyone - you only have to look at a copy of the Daily Mail to understand that. - and in this case the assumption is that you can pinpoint the ills of half a country in an article  of 1000 words without being inaccurate and sensationalist.   Severgnini said that the entire south of Italy is a mess, but shouldnt be.  Thanks for that Beppe - It is still full of tourists however, but not the usual American type that prefers the VEnice in Las VEgas to the real one because it doesnt smell - and dont think Im joking.   If by writing the article he has dissuaded the crass US tourist from coming to the south of Italy all well and good.  The thinking tourist can come and enjoy themselves all the more.

Well said modicasa !

It is a bit of a conundrum really, there is SO MUCH to see and do away from the tourist traps, and I'm not sure that I want them 'spoilt'. I tend to think of these areas as REAL Italy, where people are still doing what they have done for generations. Long may it continue !

Having said that.........tourists bring money, which in turn would bring more investment ?

V

Modi, sorry but "crass", ignorant  tourists do not belong to any specific nationality and here you could also be accused as guilty of the same cardinal sin: generalising. In my opinion, if Severgnini's article can help by raising the alarm concerning mismanagement of funds and lack of cooperation, then it has served a purpose.
Carciofo, I agree with you in that many low cost improvements can be made at local level; however, Italy needs a concerted effort to promote tourism as a much needed source of revenue and employment...and both are badly needed.
Vicino, be assured that areas untouched by mass tourism will always exist not only in Italy, but in any country; however, lack of resources can convert these places into ghost towns as the young people emigrate and the elderly die. Tuscany is a typical example with many ghost towns turning into ruins. 
In the case of Italy, or any country with similar potential, sustainable tourism is the answer; however, when you do not even have a minister for that most important portfolio... it is a worry.

Ha!

Gala wrote:.......Modi, sorry but "crass", ignorant  tourists do not belong to any specific nationality....

Of course you are correct, but I do think Modi hit the nail on the head here! Most of the other nationalities learnt from the kings...
But I repeat that you cannot rely on tourism, you need a lot more than that. There is another country not too far away that did so and is/was suffering horribly because people stopped going when cash was short.

Gaia you are of course right, but in my experience its some of our cousins from across the pond who arrive here expecting a theme park.  Eavesdropping on tourists for many many years, the cream of the crop are from the States, not New Yorkers I hasten to add.  But when in the queue for pompei you hear - 'so who built this place?' 'The same guys that did Florence' - it makes you wonder!

However, lack of cooperation is endemic in Italy.  Precisely because Italy is run at comunal level - and the campanilismo encourages non cooperation.  There is nothing that can be done about that other than by rewriting the civil code.  Lack of funds - yes there are, but its mismanagement of funds and mismanagement in the allocation of funding that is more at fault, aswell as a complete lack of understanding of tourism and its needs in all its forms.  In the south the idea of public/private partnerships is in its infancy, a comune with no money to maintain its buildings or open its museums will not entertain the idea of having a PPP because ultimately its all about power and the ability to control.  That will take generations to change - its not going to happen with a DDL from Renzi.

From our experience in trying to run a tourist business, one of the bggest problems is there is no National plan for tourism marketing so it is left up to each individual Region to do for themselves. In Le Marche this meant the Region spending millions to pay Dustin Hoffman to read Leopoldi's poetry to very beautiful shots of Italian countryside. But, guess what? He did so in ITALIAN and there was never a version in any other language. The Italians complained his Italian was terrible. How difficult would it have been to get him to do English at the same time?????

I lived in an apartment above an agriturismo run by two very nice brothers who admitted they had never actually been on holiday themselves - anywhere! I used to hide when guests came to stay and they would invariably say "it's very nice here but could you mention to X that more than 2 glasses would be nice". I started out passing on the comments then gave up when they were ignored. Except in the very, very touristy places there really isn't a culture of tourism and I don't think it is seen as anyway of bringing money & jobs to an area. It is more met with curiousity. I would say though, that even in the most touristy places I have been in Italy (Venice and Florence for example) it is still fairly easy to avoid the tourist traps and seek out the more authentic areas where people still live everyday lives so I don't go for this idea that tourism is going to ruin the 'real' Italy. As a tourist what you get out of a place is direcyly proportionate to what you put in.

At the end of they day tourism (of any sort) brings money and jobs and Italy has more than its fair share of wonderful sights and places to visit so I believe it is a resource that should be tapped. The whole administrative/bureaucratic system in Italy does not encourage entrepreneurship and in fact encourages businesses to keep information about themselves if not secret, certainly hidden. This means many of these things like "Strada del Vino" etc will never function properly. They were set up with EU funds that were a one-off with no money allocated to maintain the scheme so once the signs are up and the leaflets printed that's the end. I believe the resources have to be for long-term plans and be accompanied by a will to see tourism as a resource and sadly I can't see that happening any time soon. Currently there are too many layers of decision-makers so everything gets stifled.

I would very much like to see National Parks administered more like they are in the UK where the Park takes precedence. The Monti Sibillini National Park for example falls into 2 Regions, 5 Provinces and 33 Comune. As it stands can you imagine how complicated it is to get any decision made that affects the park?? All those people to convince? It is a ridiculous situation that could be easily rectified but then the National Parks are not funded from the Tourism Budget so are never a priority and so again it is unlikely to change.

So, it is down to the individual to publicise, inform, advertise etc whatever is in their area and some really do a wonderful job.

Well said Admin - and how nice it would be if FAI was actually like the National Trust - going to see buildings that are empty and just a succession of empty rooms is dispiriting and a little pointless.  When I tell people here about how Hampton Court is a living tudor experience, they are so excited by the concept of seeing a real tudor kitchen cooking food that you can buy in the caff - but depressingly I doubt it could ever work here.

I do know of two places that have actually managed to create something wonderful to visit. One is Castello Pallotta in Calderola in Le Marche and the other is Villa Regina Margherita in Bordighera.

The castle looks inside like the owners have just walked out. It has all the crocs and cutlery set out and everything is in it's place. The only way to visit is by guided tour. We took some Canadian tourists there on one of our bike tours and they had just been to Tuscany and visited a lot of castles and they were blown away by it. It is very special. Do visit. In summer they have a film festival in the courtyard and show silent movies on a 1930's brass projector. In fact Calderola in a wonderful town which every year (or every 2 years) hosts spectacular art exhibitions put on by Vittorio Sgarbi.

The Villa was the summer villa of the last Savoy queen and has very recently been restored. The restauration is truly spectacular and they have created an amazing roof terrace cafe which now serves brunch over-looking Monte-Carlo and the Med. The next phase of renovation is to restore the gardens. They also have a bookshop and library and put on lots of events and classes. It is very beautiful so it is definitely one to visit.