(by Benedetta Dalla Rovere)
More than 3.5 million tourists
chose FVG for their vacations in the first six months of 2023
(up8% compared to 2022); the sector in the region is worth 14%
of GDP — data confirmed by the president of Federalberghi FVG,
Paola Schneider. "The summer had started very well; we had two
beautiful months of May and June; in July, there was a bit of a
downturn, mainly related to the weather. There was alarmism in
Germany about the heat and bad weather in Italy."
The boom especially involves Trieste, "an increasingly
international city." "Hoteliers are happy with the season, April
to date, even if it is a bit of hit-and-run tourism. But we have
almost sold out." A result that is independent of the port calls
of the large cruise ships on which the mayor of Trieste, Roberto
Dipiazza, is relying: "750,000 cruise passengers arrive in
Trieste every year, and even if they were just having a coffee
they would make the economy grow." This optimism is only partly
shared by shopkeepers: downtown, the "flow is increasingly
international," but everything changes if you move away from the
city center.
Slow tourism is also growing in FVG. "Not so much traditional
destinations such as Lignano, Grado or Trieste," but, for
example, the Alpe Adria cycle route records "excellent numbers"
with travelers stopping to sleep. According to Schneider,
"Demand has changed: even those who come to the seaside want to
get to know the hinterland and share the experience on social
media." The origin: Austria, Netherlands, Germany, "they love
our gastronomy, the wineries."
"If you want to understand Trieste, you have to go to the
forests of Slovenia, to the hills of Istria, the stones of the
Karst, the islands of Kvarner," says Luigi Nacci, a writer and
wanderer who has been leading walking trips for 12 years. Nature
has a relevant place in FVG's slow tourism.
Enrico Maria Milic, anthropologist and creator of the Trieste
Green website, run by Gal Carso, which aims to develop and
promote rural areas through "88 dates for ten active
experiences," strongly believes in the same idea. Also based on
nature is the Urbi et Horti proposal of the Bioest association,
which manages "30 public gardens in sites offered by the
Municipality of Trieste," Tiziana Cimolino says.
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