The numbers of tourism in 2020 are shocking (ENIT has just certified a 49% decrease compared to 2019) but the forced stop has also been an opportunity to rethink business models.

Slow tourism, the answer to new travel styles

The future of Italy as a tourist destination is looking towards Slow Tourism. Charming villages, perhaps with scattered albergo diffuso hospitality is a consolidated reality, also with initiatives for promoting the places of excellence, such as the Bandiere Arancioni or the Borghi Più Belli d’Italia certificates.  At this time, there is a growing demand for holidays in the open air trekking on the historical trails. There are at least 60 from North to South, amount to a network of over 7,000 kilometres, spanning from the famous Via Francigena or Saint Francis's Way, to many more just waiting to be discovered. A few examples in the absolutely not exhaustive list are the Cammino 100 Torri in Sardinia, a 1284-kilometre-long circular coastal route that would take an estimated two months to touch all 70 stages, visiting over 400 kilometres of beaches and more than 500 ancient churches. Going back north, tourists seeking a more traditional trekking experience can head to the Alte Vie trails in the mountains of Lombardy that, unlike other Alpine regions, offer a great variety of landscapes, from the calcareous Prealps to intermediate chains with spots of authentic wilderness, the Rhaetian Alps, the glaciers and the large parks, choosing to stay in an efficient network of characteristic mountain huts. The walks linked to the history of World War I in North Lombardy, Trentino and Upper Veneto are also very fascinating.

An innovative approach culture for relaunching

And what will become of art cities in this new normality? One solution may be to focus on proximity tourism. An example is the Egyptian Museum of Turin that has had a steady flow of one million visitors a year for some time, also strong of effective communication on social networks and events aimed first and foremost to local visitors. The Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan is opening to the city with an array of activities (such as "discussions" between individual works on specific themes), and the Uffizi Gallery that is focusing on social events with an ironic and sometimes comedic narrative, as well as new realities, including private galleries, such as the Prada Foundation, that has set the goal of injecting new life into an entire former industrial district in Milan.

In a country as variegated and diversified as Italy, there is no lack of opportunities for revitalisation that meet the new needs of tourists. A unique appointment to discover them in advance will be BIT 2021, the first tourism event to return in physical format, at fieramilanocity from May 9 to 11.