There are no longer residents, but only tourists

The driving force of the economy has changed over the centuries, along with scientific discoveries, technological innovations, and social and cultural transformations. Our time certainly is tourism.

Everything has been thought, planned or dreamed of to attract visitors, because there are no longer just classic summer holidays and people travel all year round even on weekends, so much so that even subcategories of tourism have been born: cultural, experiential, sustainable, sports, etc., etc. that.

Every now and then I imagine what my grandmother would look like today when she found out There are people who pay to go and “experience” the grape harvest for other people Or spend the same amount of money as he did on a three-day monthly vacation in the 1980s cycling in Lange. She was the one who enslaved an entire family to bottle tomato sauce, and when she moved from the back of a donkey to the minibus to go and teach in Baronia, she was almost moved.

But it’s nice to discover new places and have the opportunity, even if only for a short time, to immerse yourself in other stories, or satisfy your thematic curiosity. Tourism is the world’s new goldmine, and a country like Italy – rich in history and culture – legitimately claims a front-row seat.

Services, facilities, entertainment opportunities, and even most of the public administration funds allocated to projects: All of this is aimed at initiatives that could be more capable of generating income in the tourism flowIt creates anticipation and transports people from other places to this specific place.

Big cities have always witnessed this phenomenon, and small towns want to take their share of the glory by intercepting the new discordant masses who do not like mass tourism.

On the one hand, it is certainly welcome. Tourism creates jobs for professions and skills that have long been underappreciated, from guides to language experts, from communications to hospitality.

but If we are all someone else’s tourists, when we return to our home country, what happens to our status as residents?

If it is right to imagine a compromise, because more movement of people actually has a positive impact on everyone, then on the other hand, we are living In a country that does not plan, but rather wins. And so he does Once again, everything is lopsided in favor of those who already enjoy certain privileges.

Any examples? To get as much revenue as possible from short stays of tourists, who only need temporary housing, landlords no longer rent to those who need a home for longer periods, such as students or workers, or are being charged disproportionate amounts due to “ You know how it is, with Airbnb I earn more “. Even in the popular and economic peripheral neighborhoods par excellence.

The destructive process of gentrification that has devastated the United States has also come down to us, and we should have noticed it as fine sandwich shops began to appear everywhere instead of delicatessens, because even a simple sandwich if not.”expertise“Or at least Instagrammable no longer worth eating. Before there were particularly expensive places “Chicken” tourists.Now we all are.

You rely on the presence of an audience as a measure of success, but you seem to live in a kind of… The era of licensed colonialism Because the victims are happy with the conquest. It’s called actually OvertourismAnd it makes everything out of control.

Even Venice, the undisputed destination of holiday dreams from all over the world, has decided that, as of 2024, you cannot enter without booking and paying a ticket, while the municipality of Naples has decided that no new “taverns” or fry shops can open for three years in the historic UNESCO center. .

And we came to Irpinia, but a lot can also be said about the Cilento and all those places that, The hangover from last summer was made up of people moving around anyway and big events in the squaresWe find the shutters closed, the houses empty, and the desert around every corner.

Those who do not even want to hear the word “tourism” compare it with the now empty term “consolidation”, while everything remains static. We want to bring in “people from outside”, but basic services for residents are still missing, from some of the most used buses (let’s mention the word train) to an emergency room capable of managing local emergencies in a decent manner. So, Wi-Fi became a necessity because it became understood that if you didn’t give tourists the opportunity to share what they were doing on social media they wouldn’t even take you into consideration, with all due respect to those who didn’t. You don’t know how to work or learn remotely and at least you will get minimal benefit from it.

Meanwhile, everywhere, the only thing that makes it feel like a trendy tourist destination anyway is that Spritzer Which completely eliminated any other local alternative. It is more or less watered down, with or without tapas, and certainly more and more expensive even in the dustier regional bars. Because a unique alternative experience is fine, but if we can’t satisfy the whim of always getting the same things everywhere, we instantly get a negative review, while globalization thanks us.

Tourism and its profits are Italy’s new obsession, but it seems that way Ferrari without brakes. Beautiful, expensive, and a feeling of omnipotence, but destined to crash at the first hurdle.

(picture Pasquale Paolo Cardo)