The monitoring table on the new tourist tariffs linked to the Cinque Terre Express met in the Liguria Region headquarters in the early afternoon of yesterday. During the meeting, the Liguria Region, in the capacity of the regional councilor for tourism Augusto Sartori, released the data regarding traffic flows in the period 16 March – 2 June 2024. Confcommercio La Spezia carried forward its beliefs already expressed in previous meetings . “In our opinion it is too early to have an accurate assessment of the effects of the fare increase after just two months, despite the significant reductions compared to 2023 seem to confirm our fears, even more so since these data relate only to travel tickets issued from Trenitalia. – he declares Gianni Bellingeri, president of Confcommercio Cinque Terre – Despite this, we reiterate that the increase in tariffs will not serve to decongest the area or regulate tourist flows, we are in fact recording an unchanged presence of groups of tourists disembarking from cruise ships or arriving with organized coaches, a hit-and-run tourism that does not it gives nothing back to the territory and is on the contrary harmful”.
Bellingeri continues: “On the other hand, local tourists are decreasing, i.e. those who live in neighboring regions and come to the Cinque Terre for a trip out of town, most of the time eating or staying on site with their families. The increase in rates was not followed by improvements in the quality of services offered to tourists. All this is linked to the excessive number of “yellow” or “red” days for us, more than double if compared with other heavily touristed Italian cities that have adopted a similar strategy. In conclusion, our association’s commitment remains in constant dialogue with all the actors of the monitoring table, the commitment is that of a future meeting in mid-July, having further updated data available”
