Villages, caminos and diffuse tourism against overtourism

An offer built around villages and inland areas, including widespread or slow tourism, wellness and sports activities, food and wine and trekking, walks and nature, archaeological or spiritual routes. These are the new trends at Bit, the International Tourism Exchange taking place until Thursday in the halls of Rho Fiera Milano. The sea and the mountains retain their charm but the Belpaese is like a diamond with a thousand facets to be discovered. Suffice it to think, for example, of the walking routes, because in Italia there are more than 120 active walking routes, including the Via Francigena, the Via Francesca a and the Via degli Dei on the Amalfi Coast. According to the latest data from the yearbook 'Italia, paese di cammini', some 191,500 credentials were distributed in 2024, an increase of 29% year-on-year, surpassing the record quota of 1.4 million along Italy's routes. Just yesterday came the final approval of the 'cammini' law, reached today thanks to the unanimous consensus between majority and opposition. The walking routes finally obtain the recognition they deserve, becoming a strategic pillar for tourism with an allocation of 5 million for the period 2026-2028 and one million annually from 2029, in addition to the more than 30 already invested by the Ministry of Tourism for this asset.

The cradle of Roman civilisation, marine oases between dunes and ponds, the intersection of history and centuries-old traditions, but also sporting events such as the preliminary regattas of the Louis Vuitton America's Cup. This is what Lazio and Sardinia, two different regions but with many points of contact, offer. "Lazio is an extraordinarily rich and diversified region, capable of offering a tourist and cultural heritage that goes well beyond Rome - is the premise of Mario Luciano Crea, President of the Culture, Entertainment, Sport and Tourism Commission of the Regional Council of Lazio -. Historical villages, natural landscapes, parks, coasts, spas, religious and nature trails, cultural traditions and excellent food and wine make up a wide and articulated system of offerings that deserves to be promoted. We need to enhance this wealth, strengthen Lazio's position on national and international markets and promote a model of sustainable, widespread and quality tourism, capable of generating concrete and lasting benefits for local communities, fostering a balanced growth of the territory'.

Sardinia is the only region listed in the 'Lonely Planet best in travel 2026' guide as one of the 25 must-see global destinations. In addition to the celebrated beaches, there is the hinterland with its ancient archaeological sites, such as Su Nuraxi di Barumini in central Sardinia, older than the Colosseum because its construction dates back to the second millennium B.C., and the traditions and local crafts. Villages and slow tourism, spiritual walks and necropolis older than the Egyptian pyramids such as the 'Domus de janas' are focal points of a tourism that looks inland and allows unique experiences such as sleeping inside a nuraghe. All this is in addition to outdoor and non-outdoor activities and cross-cutting points of interest that last an entire year such as food and wine, wellness and quality of life considering the record number of centenarians.

...and the Via Toscana

At the forefront of the fight against overtourism, the region focuses on many areas and proposals. "We have the charter of values for pet travel, a project that already involves 3,400 companies offering services for this type of clientele. There is also a strengthening of tourism for families,' explains Francesco Tapinassi, director of Toscana promozione turistica. The effort that the Agency is making is shifting the tourism narrative towards areas that are less involved in large international flows, such as Mugello, Garfagnana, Lunigiana, Val di Chiana, and the Maremma. All areas with a more limited rate of internationalisation'. The strategy is to make the international media discover these territories and develop tourism in these areas. Among the region's gems are the Tuscan archipelago and the San Rossore park, both of which are Unesco biosphere reserves, as well as several World Heritage territories that are being targeted to better distribute flows. There is then the craftsmanship where high quality activities become mastery such as the goldsmiths in Ponte Vecchio and Arezzo, the poetry of clay in Montelupo and the strength of marble in Carrara. The journey continues among the wrought iron of Casentino, the leather goods of excellence between Florence and Pisa and the paper-making tradition of Lucca. From the patience of embroidery in Anghiari and Pistoia to the sustainable wool of Prato, to the thousand-year-old alabaster of Volterra and gold leaf painting.