Many tourist resorts in Italy are forced to restrict the number of visitors because of their popularity this summer. While the tourism industry in some countries have suffered a setback in the recent times, Italy is being viewed as a safe destination by foreign travelers.
Furthermore, many Italians have decided to remain in the country instead of going abroad and thus the Italian cities are often overcrowded.
For instance, there has been a 5 percent increase in the number of people visiting Venice this year. Florence has seen a 5.6 percent increase in tourists, while Capri and Liguria's Cinque Terre have experienced 9 percent and 20 percent increase in visitors, respectively, over last year. This has forced the Italian cities to refrain from welcoming tourists with open arms in order to ensure their safety.
Tourists are restricted to fifteen admission intervals at Pompeii, the archaeological site. Meanwhile, only 24 people at a time are allowed every 15 minutes to visit Leonardo da Vinci's painting "The Last Supper" kept at Milan Museum.
The maximum number of people allowed to visit the Colosseum at a time is 3,000. The number of cars that can be parked per day at Oasis of Bidderosa is just 130. Similar restrictions have been imposed on Abruzzo National Park and others.
While the mayor of Venice Luigi Brugnaro noted that the danger of the visitor-resident relationship is becoming confrontational, Evelia Christillin, president of the National Tourism Agency ENIT, said that activities have to be coordinated by the authorities in order to make sure that everybody is happy.
Christillin pointed out that tourists should be informed in advance how many people booked the same destination as they did so that they are aware of the crowds. On the other hand, the mayor of Monterosso Emanuele Moggia, said that it is just commonsense to impose tourist quotas, since visitors cannot just throng old fishing villages; it is essential to redistribute the visitors.
