The Amalfi Charter, a choral work for a new sustainable tourism

What do some of our beautiful seaside resorts, some famous mountain villages, areas of excellence and small towns that tell millenary stories have in common? They are places with a high tourist vocation that continue to attract new guests but have to come to terms with complex issues. First and foremost, the optimal management of flows, the protection of the territory with a sustainable and innovative vision of local development. This is as true in small towns such as those on the Amalfi Coast (from the village of Atrani to the beautiful Praiano, passing through the unforgettable views of Ravello to the seaside town of Amalfi and then on to Positano, the heart of the Divine Coast) as it is in Capri, the pearl of the Mediterranean, a unique mix of spectacular nature, millennial history and worldliness, and in the green island of Ischia, another island that has much to tell for its natural curative waters and luxuriant gardens. Then there is Castellabate and Pollica in the wild Cilento, and then in Sardinia Arzachena, the gateway to the Costa Smeralda, in Apulia Polignano a Mare with its spectacular cliffs overlooking the sea, in Sicily the enchanting Taormina, and to the north Riomaggiore the symbolic village of the Cinque Terre with its colourful tower-houses overlooking the Ligurian Sea.

Moving on to the mountains, there are many areas of excellence but no less fragile, such as the pearl of the Dolomites Cortina d'Ampezzo, Courmayeur, the gateway to Mont Blanc, and Pinzolo/Madonna di Campiglio, which stand out in the Alps for an exclusive ski area but above all for being in the heart of the Adamello Brenta Natural Park. Also in the Majella National Park is Roccaraso and then in Tuscany there is San Gimignano, an intact medieval village, the city of beautiful towers (UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1990) and the Etruscan Volterra, the alabaster capital. The circle is completed by Riva del Garda, the 'pearl' of the Upper Garda, with its extraordinary contrast between the Mediterranean climate (with olive and lemon trees) and the imposing Alpine peaks, appreciated since Roman times.

A little more than a year ago all together these localities gave life to the Amalfi Charter (today a total of 25 municipalities have adhered) which is not simply a document but a concrete process to respond to an increasingly urgent challenge: to govern large tourist flows in an effective and sustainable manner. Thanks to this common thread that unites them, thanks to the Amalfi Charter, these localities have immediately moved from words to deeds, demonstrating that this collaboration is not a formal agreement, but an operational model based on direct collaboration between mayors, capable of overcoming decision fragmentation and building shared solutions. In less than twelve months, the project has activated a concrete dialogue with national institutions, becoming a recognised interlocutor in the debate on the future of tourism in Italia, establishing itself as a national best practice in the management of tourist flows, and proposing a model that can be replicated nationwide, capable of combining tourist development, protection of territories and quality of life of resident communities. Among the tangible results were the activation of a table at the Ministry of Tourism, active participation in the ANCI Assembly, involvement in the International Tourism Forum, and the incorporation in the Security Decree of the requests of tourist municipalities, aiming at better management of flows and greater security in locations with a high tourist vocation. Among other things, the decree facilitates control services, including the management of local police personnel.

But also on the plate are regulatory tools to govern the accommodation offer; the recognition of Special Tourist Zones and tax levers; more flexibility in personnel management in tourist areas. But other novelties are on the way. In particular, the Municipality of Capri has implemented an innovative project that for the first time, also thanks to the aid of advanced technologies, makes it possible to estimate the maximum number of tourists to be safely accommodated on the island, to define guidelines to set up procedures to manage flows, and an adequate transport analysis. On an island like Capri, where there are almost 2 million arrivals a year, with daily peaks of 20,000 people a day, the issue of how to welcome tourists, without imposing closed numbers or restrictions, but safely, is decisive. we need organisation and planning to be presented to all the players involved (tour operators, hoteliers, and nautical transport companies)," emphasises the mayor of Capri, Paolo Falco. "In a few days we will present our study to Minister Matteo Piantedosi, and then we will make this model available to all the municipalities that have signed the Amalfi Charter and to those who want to join our project, so that each locality can make it its own according to its specific needs, because the Amalfi Charter is not a point of arrival, but a method. A new way of working together between territories to build a more balanced, sustainable and aware tourism'.