tourism-italia.com

The Amalfi coast is located in the province of Salerno in southern Italy, it is a stretch of coastline that attracts thousands of tourists annually. It is located on the relatively steep slope of the Sorrentine Peninsula. The layout of its landscape does not lend well to agricultural cultivation and the thirteen municipalities located along its coast are heavily centred around the tourism industry and tourist activities.

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Italy’s youth unemployment rate in November 2010 rose to the highest it has ever been since January 2004 when figures where first recorded.

The unemployment rate amongst young people between the ages of 15-24 years old rose to 28.9% and experts say things are expected to get worse for 2011. (more…)

Reports have shown that since the official smoking ban was introduced in Italy six years ago, Italians have been purchasing less cigarettes weekly but few Italians have made the choice to quit alltogether. Cigarette sales have registered a 12% drop in the last six years but the amount of Italians who regularly smoke has remained between 22 and 23% for the last six years. Suggesting that the smoking ban has had little to no affect in encouraging Italians to kick the habit for good. Health experts say there has been a mild improvement in that statistics suggest on average Italians are buying one less packet of cigarettes a month. Italians may not be quitting but the ban is encouraging people to cut down. (more…)

Officials in Rome have decided to start tackling a growing binge-drinking problem in the Italian capital. Residents of the historic city have said that in recent years, young tourists have dramatically changed the city. An Irish pub near the Colosseum, The Cork Inn, has banned groups of organised tours from visiting the bar. The manager explains that large groups of young tourists used to come into the pub, down various drinks in 10 minutes and then leave the bar making lots of noise and some even being sick outside. (more…)

As from the 1^st January 2011 the slow ban of all plastic bags will begin to take place in and around the whole of Italy. Local shops, clothing stores and supermarkets will no longer be allowed to offer customers plastic bags with their purchases. Reports have shown that Italy uses 20 billion plastic bags a year – almost 300 bags per person. The ban is slowly being introduced so from the beginning of the year shoppers will no longer be offered plastic bags at the checkout and will have to bring their own re-usable carriers to the stores. (more…)

I love skiing in the Aosta Valley and now others will also get the chance to see what the region has to offer as there will be a display at the British Ski & Board Show. In addition to the display, Leo Gerbore, one of the region’s best chefs, will be at the show to prepare traditional dishes which visitors will be able to sample. There will also be a selection of cheeses, meats, preserves and fine wines to test. For those of who don’t know where the Aosta Valley is, it’s between France and Switzerland in the north of Italy and is surrounded by the Matterhorn, the Monte Rosa and the Monte Bianco peaks. As well as the Aosta Valley showcase there will be displays of the latest skiing and snowboarding equipment. It starts on October 1^st at the NEC in Birmingham and finishes on November 1^st. Hopefully lots of people will go and get the skiing bug!!

Now let this be a lesson to all of you who tend to find yourself answering the call of nature in obscure places. On Monday night, the Mayor of Venice Massimo Cacciari caught a Portuguese man relieving himself into one of the city’s famous canals. The man was told off by the Mayor and the police were called. According to what Cacciari told reporters on Tuesday, he “saw a gentleman peeing in a canal and took the liberty of telling him that he probably wouldn’t do so in his living room”. The Portuguese tourist was fined 50 euros for his deed and sent on his way. However, this all seems a bit fishy to me considering Cacciari is facing criticism over the up-keep of Venice. The regional governor of Veneto, Giancarlo Galan, and Civil Service Minister Renato Brunetta have accused the Mayor of not doing enough to rid the city of rats and pigeons and that he has sold out to major companies, such as Coca Cola. But the moral of this story is, next time you are caught short in Venice, don’t pee in a canal or you face a fine!

Today marks the beginning of the Borsa Internazionale del Turismo (BIT) show in Milan. It runs until Sunday and is one of the most important travel shows in the world with exhibitions by countries as far away as Tourism Australia and the Department of Tourism and Resorts of Georgia, amongst others. Last year there were over 5,000 exhibitors from 152 countries and 108,500 trade visitors from all across the world. Therefore it’s important that we do the best job we can and try and encourage the world to come and visit Italy!

So, we’re still waiting for the creation of the new Italian tourism website. According to the Wall Street Journal, the website has already taken five years to create and more than €45 million has been set aside and what we are left with is… nothing. When the website was first launched in February 2007, the number of errors on it was embarrassing. Don’t try looking at italia.it because I already have and there is nothing there. The government is currently trying to yet again design the website. So we must wait until next spring to see the next thrilling installment of the tourism website and find out whether Italy will ever have one.

Forecasts predict that Silvio Berlusconi has won his third term in office. Now what will this one-man powerhouse do to encourage growth in our economy? As I have previously pointed out, there are less Italians willing to part with their cash as local tourists so something has to be done to improve the situation. Seeing as Berlusconi runs media, insurance and marketing companies, among others, can he lead the way and encourage more Italians to enjoy the delights of their own country? Berlusconi has promised tax cuts and handouts so maybe these will help. We will not always be able to rely on foreign tourists to boost the tourism trade.