The figures released by Tourism Minister Gianmarco Mazzi on the sidelines of the Venice Film Festival paint a picture of an unprecedented summer. Between June, July, and August, Italy recorded 276 million visitor arrivals—5.5 million more than in 2025, which had itself been a record year. The occupancy rate on major online booking platforms reached nearly 62%, up 14.5% from the previous year. According to the minister, these figures place Italy ahead of its Mediterranean competitors: 7 points ahead of Spain and 17 points ahead of France, with a lead that reportedly widened to 13 points over Spain and 23 points over France in the first ten days of September.
The flip side of the coin
Behind the enthusiasm of the press releases, however, lies an issue that becomes harder to ignore with each passing summer: the sustainability of these destinations. Such a high level of visitor volume means crowded beaches, historic centers overrun by tourists, and water and energy systems under strain—precisely during the months when water is most scarce.
Venice, Florence, the Cinque Terre, and the Amalfi Coast are now permanently grappling with tourist overcrowding, which erodes residents’ quality of life and puts fragile ecosystems to the test. In short, peak visitor numbers also mean a peak in waste production, land use, and emissions from travel. This is a fact that no press release puts at the top of the list of achievements.
The Challenge for Small Towns
Aware of the problem, the ministry is promoting a strategy to redirect tourist flows toward small towns and inland areas, resulting in a nearly 6% increase in visitor numbers compared to last year.
“We want the flows to be distributed,” the minister explained, noting that significant progress has been made on this front as well. It’s a step in the right direction, but there’s still a long way to go. For this distribution to truly work, investments are needed in transportation, services, and healthcare facilities in less-populated areas; otherwise, there’s a risk of simply shifting overcrowding from one part of the map to another, without reducing its overall impact.
According to the World Travel & Tourism Council, tourism accounts for 10.8% of Italy’s gross domestic product (a figure that other estimates put as high as 13%) and remains an irreplaceable economic resource. The real challenge in the coming years, however, will not be attracting more visitors, but managing their presence more effectively: extending the tourist seasons, smoothing out peaks, and protecting the communities that depend on those visitors for their livelihoods. Because a record built on overcrowding, without a sustainability strategy, risks quickly turning from a source of pride into a problem.
The Reasons for the Delay
It is clear that this is the problem: overcrowding in some areas and the abandonment of others (including hundreds of ancient villages that would be preserved and promoted in any other country). The question is why this problem is not being addressed. And the answer cannot be confined to the realm of tourism.
The real reason is a cultural lag—the inability to create ecosystemic connections within the economy. In one box are the tourism figures. In another, the money we spend to repair the damage caused by landslides and floods. In yet another, the tens of thousands of deaths in Europe caused by extreme heat waves. In a fourth, agricultural losses. And the list goes on and on. It’s mentioned in official press releases, news reports, and conferences. But always without the overarching perspective needed to reveal the interconnections: the widespread benefits stemming from individual investments in the ecological transition and the equally widespread harm resulting from the dominance of a fossil-fuel-based, hyper-concentrated model. Incorrect calculations lead to incorrect results.
