I fear that, as has happened to him on other occasions, Mayor Melucci has made a mistake. In fact, between 2022 and 2023, the percentages of arrivals and presences in Taranto, compared to the entire Puglia Region, decreased and not increased as the Mayor says.
So the SAIL GP effect is at best null (in reality unfortunately a waste of money), or if you want to be ironic about it, even pejorative.
It is in fact true that between 2022 and 2023 there was an increase in arrivals in Taranto (i.e. people who came to our city). We went from 84,247 in 2022 to 98,227 in 2023 with an increase in absolute value of 13,980 units (for a percentage equal to 16.59%). This increase in arrivals, however, is decidedly lower than the increase suffered by the entire Region which grew by approximately 25% (it went from 4,261,001 arrivals in 2022 to 5,344,230 arrivals in 2023).
Therefore, the increase in tourists that the city of Taranto had between 2022 and 2023 is significantly lower in percentage terms than that experienced by the entire Region.
In fact, if in 2022 out of 100 tourists who came to Puglia in 2022: 1.98 (about 2) passed through Taranto, in 2023 out of 100 tourists who came to Puglia from Taranto 1.83% passed. We therefore went from 1.98% to 1.83 out of 100.
Compared to the number of overnight stays in the accommodation facilities of Taranto, however, in the year 2022 in Taranto there were 279,852 overnight stays which, commensurate with the overall number of overnight stays that there were in that year in all the Apulian facilities, (15,814,230) represents in percentage 1.76%. In the year 2023 in Taranto there were 294,034 overnight stays which, when compared to the overall number of overnight stays in all Apulian facilities (18,927,872), represent 1.55%. So even in this case, although there is an increase in absolute values (14,182 more overnight stays) compared to the overall number of overnight stays in Puglia, there is actually a drop in percentage value (from 1.76% in 2022 to 1.55% in 2023 ).
Wanting to go into even more detail, between 2022 and 2023 an increase in overnight stays in accommodation facilities of 19.97% was recorded in the whole of Puglia and instead in Taranto the increase was 5.06% (therefore a quarter of the increase of the entire Region).
The truth is therefore not the one told by Sidnaco, namely that the sail gp would have increased tourist presences in Taranto. The truth is that as the number of tourists who came to Puglia increased, some of them (in a negligible percentage and in any case decidedly lower than the increase in the entire Region) came to Taranto.
To put it bluntly, the percentages of arrivals and presences between 2022 and 2023, compared to the overall number of tourists who came to Puglia and who stayed overnight, were even reduced
On the other hand, you will remember that the response I received regarding the tourist tax collected by the accommodation facilities in Taranto in the summer months of 2023 already well represented the feeling that the Mayor’s versions on the results of the sail gp probably responded more to his desired than to the truth.
In fact, the municipality of Taranto collected 20,560 euros in tourist tax in the month of June 2023, 22,960 euros in the month of July, 27,739.50 euros in the month of August and 13,781 euros in the month of September.
Therefore in the month of September (the period in which the sail gp took place) the collection of the tourist tax was significantly lower than in the other summer months. This means that SAIL GP has not produced any type of direct tourism in our city. It could happen that a few people seeing the city on television thanks to the images of the Sail GP decide in the future to come to Taranto, but there was no direct tourism, in fact the takings in September were less than half of those in August. and also lower in June and July.
Gianni Liviano
