Tourism, art cities restart. Easter sold out, Italians rediscover culture

The queues are back but this time they are not for the vaccine or to take a swab: these days in front of museums and cultural venues the long lines to get in that have not been seen in a long time are back. Real exploits in this Easter which thus marks, in spite of the fears caused by the combination of pandemic, war and high prices, a return to the traditional museum-visiting vacation typical of the Easter season. And as one travel guide predicted to Windows on Art, the Easter bridge is characterized by the presence of many Italians in line who take this opportunity, as was the case for the November 2 bridge, of scarcity of foreign tourism to reacquaint themselves with the beauties of their own homes. Places that in pre-Covid times were accessible only after very long queues made mostly of foreigners now become more accessible, and this Easter offers the chance to return to museums and works of art even close to home. The phenomenon is homogeneous throughout Italy and univocal are the analyses and sentiment of the major organizations in the sector.

A survey by CNA Tourism and Commerce conducted among its members throughout Italy estimates that 15 million Italians and foreigners are setting out to travel in our country during the April holidays for a total expenditure of around 5.5 billion. On the Easter and April 25 bridges, ten million Italians will limit themselves to day trips or travel to family homes. But more than five million tourists are planning to stay in accommodations for at least one night. And of these more than 1.5 million will be foreigners. With average overnight stays expected to be between 2 and 3 nights for Italians and between 3 and 4 for foreigners. Such a movement that has made Autostrade companies decide to remove major construction sites along major arteries.

The cities of art thus restart this Easter after two years of great penalization due to Covid. According to a survey conducted by the Centro Studi Turistici for Assoturismo Confesercenti, there are more than 1.1 million overnight stays in cultural tourism locations. In fact, for the Easter holidays, bookings in cities and art centers exceeded 76 percent of the availability of accommodations. And 36 percent of requests come from foreign tourists, who have been great absentees in the past two years. Therefore, a significant movement of tourists is expected at Easter, which will return to enliven the historic centers after long months of instability. Good news, Assoturismo stresses, not only for accommodation facilities but for the entire cultural tourism chain, from museums to cultural and archaeological sites, from tour guides to catering, from rental and transportation services to commercial activities.

While 14 million Italians are traveling according to Federalberghi but President Bernabò Bocca to Ansa’s Cinzia Conti urges “not to sing victory because in our sector we have been under rubble for two years. For us, Easter represents a very important test in anticipation of the queen of vacations, which is usually the summer,” and for the moment “we are in the right direction.”

A sell-out that has taken even the insiders by surprise, it is fitting to say at Easter. “A few weeks ago,” said Maria Carmela Colaiacovo, president of Associazione Italiana Confindustria Alberghi, “we were not yet able to define a clear picture of the situation. Bookings came in literally at the last second, a signal that confirms how much the uncertainties related to the conflict, the energy price and the covid, which has not yet been eradicated, play a key role by effectively blocking tourism. It will be predominantly domestic tourism for the Easter vacations, to which will be added a proximity European clientele. Still missing from the roll call is that whole portion of the market, which is extremely important to us, namely that coming from non-EU countries.”

After 25 months of suffering and closures in the cities of art, the signs of this restart are tangible: “In Venice, it’s a frenzy!” vigilante commander Marco Agostini explains to La Stampa . “Already yesterday,” he says speaking of the uninterrupted flow of tourists, “120,000 had arrived, today much worse, we have all the parking lots sold out in Venice, there is a queue of people despite signs, warnings and operators.” And despite the international tensions related to the war in Ukraine signs of vitality are also coming from the air flow to and from abroad: at Fiumicino airport it has risen to an average of about 75 thousand daily travelers and from April 14 to 19 there will be more than 450 thousand passengers between departures and arrivals. Top of the preferences are European destinations and also North America, thanks to the return of many connections. North Africa, the Middle East with Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi are also among the destinations. At the Chiasso road border, however, the car queue reached 22 km with an estimated wait of about 4 hours.

In Florence lots of crowds to enter the Duomo, Giotto’s bell tower, the Uffizi and in front of the city’s other monuments and museums with the return to Piazza Duomo of the traditional and folkloric “Scoppio del carro” after last years’ Covid restrictions. In Tuscany, according to the Region’s estimates, 550,000 overnight stays are expected for Easter days, a figure easily verified with a search on Booking where 96 percent of the rooms are occupied with Florence practically sold out and Pisa and Siena with excellent results with long lines even in front of Palazzo Blu in the city of the Tower hosting the exhibition dedicated to Keith Haring.

In Rome, the municipality estimates 235,000 arrivals, and a sign that it is heading for a sell-out is the figure for admissions to the Vittoriano and Palazzo Venezia (recently unified in the established ’ViVe’), certainly not among the usually popular destinations. “23,000 visitors are expected,” director Edith Gabrielli tells LaPresse. A number that accords with “the continuous growth of the public” that the institute has been experiencing “since the end of the state of emergency,” Gabrielli continues, recalling that already “the first free Sunday saw great participation,” with “20,000 visitors.”

In Naples the same scenario with the filled city offering a varied cultural proposal in these weeks: at Capodimonte the Oltre Caravaggio exhibition, curated by Stefano Causa, with an alternative reinterpretation of the Neapolitan seventeenth century, beyond, precisely, Merisi’s masterpieces, with more than two hundred works. However, the picture gallery and the Real Bosco, led by Sylvain Bellenger, will be closed tomorrow. At the Pan on Via dei Mille, an exhibit dedicated to Andy Warhol has just been inaugurated. On view, curated by Edoardo Falcioni, as many as 130 works by the master of Pop Art, all from private collections. The Palazzo delle Arti also offers an interesting photographic exhibition dedicated to Caius Mario Garrubba, organized by the Luce Historical Archives.

For Aldo Werdin, president of Federalberghi Liguria, the numbers are returning to those of 2019: “The good weather and the suspension of highway construction sites have also facilitated last-minute bookings. We are back to 2019 numbers and this is a positive sign. In the West, a lot of French people arrived while in the East a lot of Swiss. Then this year we noticed an increase in attendance of Finns and Swedes. But Russian and Ukrainian tourists are missing because of the war. And we will hardly see them this summer.” This weekend’s numbers “may not be replicated for the April 25 holiday. This is an Italian holiday, and with the economic crisis not all families can afford to travel for two weekends in a row,” Werdin adds. For next summer, the future looks bright. “We are already receiving numerous bookings especially from Americans and Australians, particularly on the Levant. The South American market also gives us hope.”

Finally, the figure from Sardinia should be noted: more than 18 thousand flights are scheduled for the summer from the capital with 38 domestic and 53 international connections, for a total of 91 connections, including 15 new routes. As many as 13 new direct scheduled connections to Bilbao, Carcassonne, Hanover, Lille, London Gatwick, Madrid, Nice, Nuremberg, Palma de Mallorca, Poznan, Seville, Strasbourg, and Moscow, the latter awaiting confirmation based on conflict developments. “After ending 2021 on a high note by registering 56 percent more passengers than in 2020, we have consolidated the growth trend in the first months of 2022 thanks to the careful planning of winter routes. Now,” says Renato Branca, Sogaer CEO, “Cagliari Airport is preparing for a summer in line with pre-pandemic traffic levels, if not even higher, consistent with the evolution of current geopolitical scenarios.”

According to operators, next summer could also exceed the results of 2019. And therefore, the offer is also strengthened at the Costa Smeralda in Olbia: 69 destinations, including 48 international and 21 domestic, and 19 countries. Overall, Olbia Airport’s offer includes more than 4.5 million seats for sale, with a growth compared to 2019 of +36%. Confirmed all scheduled connections of partners operating at Costa Smeralda, with the exception of flights to Russia not scheduled due to the pandemic and new connections to Ukraine canceled due to known geopolitical events affecting the country. The charter flight segment is also on the upswing with a 45 percent higher seat supply than in 2019.

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