Bari, over 155 thousand tourists in the city in April. The numbers of the capital’s success

The tourist season a Bari, which began in March after the physiological decline recorded in January and February, continues to record excellent numbers. The hope of operators and the municipal administration is that the coming months will increasingly increase these data, in order to confirm Bari as tourist destination of excellence of south Italy. In the period from April 1st to April 27th (therefore without completely considering the last weekend of the month) 155 thousand visitors were registered in the city, while approximately 63 thousand tourists arrived. Those who visited Bari in the last month slept in the city more than two nights (the average was 2.46 nights).

The numbers

Yesterday alone in Bari there were 3,500 tourists. Travellers, from what emerges, are 31% Italian, followed by tourists from Poland, France, Bulgaria, Germany, Romania, Hungary, but also Spain and the Netherlands. Interesting, as already seen in recent months, is the presence of a percentage of tourists from the United States, considering that there are no direct connections and therefore those from the United States who choose Bari do so knowingly. In this month of April which is coming to an end, they were equal to 2.81% of the total, therefore over 1,700 people.
As regards the tourist tax, approximately 800 thousand euros were collected in 2024, which added to the 580 thousand in the first three months of activation of the measure, corresponding to the final period of 2023 (October-December), we are talking about a collection equal to one million and 380 thousand euros. The percentage of tourists arriving in Bari and choosing to stay in a hotel is also growing, as the data says that 48.8% opted to spend the night in a hotel. The remaining 51.2% was divided between guest houses, B&Bs and short-term rentals and so on. It should be remembered that to date, there are 2,478 structures registered on the PayTourist platform. Numbers that go hand in hand with the tourist success recorded by Bari over the Easter weekend, when around two thousand tourists chose the city and almost 17 thousand were present from 28 March to 1 April, with an average stay of three days. A start to the season that gives us hope, with optimistic forecasts also for the month of May which is arriving and which coincides with the celebrations for Saint Nicholas, days which see many Italians and foreigners arrive in Bari in the name of the cult of the saint of Myra.
«St. Nicholas has always attracted a lot – underlines the Councilor for Tourism, Ines Pierucci – and there are many people who come to Bari for the three days of the festival and not just for the procession on the evening of May 7th». On expectations for the month of May, Pierucci adds: «There are many religious tourists who arrive in Bari for Saint Nicholas and the historical procession itself has become an important tourist attraction, exactly like the big events, having become de-provincialized from the point of view of even international spectacularization that is created with the aerial dance moment and more”. The choice to come to Bari and Puglia in this period is sometimes also linked to the celebrations for San Nicola: «Whoever chooses Puglia in this period of the year – the councilor points out – knows that there is the festival of San Nicola , and perhaps when he organizes the trip he decides to stay a little longer to witness this tradition of identity and characteristic of the place he is going to visit”. «The forecasts – concludes Pierucci – are more than positive, considering that we have almost 90% of bookings on Booking». Bari is increasingly becoming a destination to visit and experience for the many tourists who arrive from all over the world. There remains the issue of services that must necessarily be implemented to ensure that the city can truly be defined as “European” and in line with the expectations of those who choose to visit it.
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