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: Tourism
Regions of Italy
Italy holds by itself the greatest part of the international artistic heritage. Two thirds, according to some, though it is difficult to quantify: we miss a complete survey, and there may be no agreement about the parameters. It is undoubted that our Country concentrates an incomparable amount of artistic values, from Classicism to [...]
Read on.Italy holds by itself the greatest part of the international artistic heritage. Two thirds, according to some, though it is difficult to quantify: we miss a complete survey, and there may be no agreement about the parameters. It is undoubted that our Country concentrates an incomparable amount of artistic values, from Classicism to Romanesque, from Renaissance to Baroque.
There is Rome with the Sistine, the Raphael Rooms, St. Peter’s (Michelangelo), the colonnade (Bernini), the Colosseum… in Florence the Uffizi gallery holds the best of the Renaissance, from Botticelli to Leonard. Then Venice, with St. Mark’s Basilica and Palazzo Ducale: paintings by Tintoretto and Veronese, which is the best of the Venetian ‘colorismo’. The ‘Bridal Chamber’ in Mantova, with frescos by Mantegna. Scaliger palaces and monuments in Verona. The Palladian Villas of the Veneto. Baroque style in Lecce (Puglia) and Noto (Sicily), the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento. And then Siena, Lucca, Bergamo Alta…
The natural patrimony, with its endless marine, mountain and lake variants, isn’t less animated and rich: the Alps in Valdaosta, the Dolomites in Trentino, as well as the Versilia, the Amalfi Coast, Gargano and Salento, and the amazing beaches of Calabria, Puglia and Sardinia.
Tourism is for Italy a leading sector as for the national product, with more than 2 million employees. The turbulent tradition of the Peninsula, among parish quarrels, foreign invasions, ethnic encounters and fights, battles between Empire and Papacy, Guelphs and Ghibellines, Counter-Reformation and much more, enriched the landscape everywhere from the Roman Age to the Union of Italy: fortalices, castles, cathedrals, sacred and profane icons, great religious, military and civil constructions.
For the World Tourism Organization ours is the 5th most visited country in the world, with a foreign annual presence that overtakes 40 million people. A number that is continuously growing due to the general tendency of Countries for opening borders and movements.
As for the turnover, Italy jumps to the 4th place. Yet if you consider quality and hotel accommodation, it reaches European leadership, with more than 1 million rooms and 12 thousand B&BS’ internet sites.
You have to take into consideration that the sector drags a great deal of communications, facilities, transportations, as well as holiday villages, parks, recreational centres of all kinds, museums, restoration points, areas for camping, in a word everything we can offer to the aggressive demand of mass tourism. By the way, in comparison with the necessity to contain and regulate flows in respect of the environment, some speak about a “sustainable tourism”. In other words, compatible with nature and conditions of places and communities. While for “responsible tourism” they mean a more humane and complete travelling experience, open to values of civilization and culture, capable of catching the spirit of the place, or “genius loci”. On the other hand, it is just that Italian spirit to draw such interest from the world. A spirit made of ancient gentleness, elegance and style, in a melting pot of different cultures, among classicism, humanism, Christianity and Mediterranean Sea.
