Just enough time to be elected, in the run-off scheduled for 23-24 June, and the new mayor of Florence will have to manage a major sporting event, which will bring thousands of fans to the streets but which – in a delicate city like the Tuscan capital – requires a complex organization. The start of the Tour de France, one of the most followed sporting events in the world, is set for Saturday 29 June at 12pm, with the first stage Florence-Rimini (206 km) dedicated to the memory of the great Italian cyclist Gino Bartali. It is the first time that the historic race that awards the yellow jersey starts from Italy, with the expected start in Piazza della Signoria and a spectacular passage over the Ponte Vecchio and Piazzale Michelangelo.
Initiatives in the world of cycling
On the occasion of the start of the Tour, the Municipality of Florence has organized (starting from Saturday 15 June) a series of initiatives to bring people closer to the world of two wheels – extraordinary openings at the Bartali Museum, cycling routes and visits to the Deportations Memorial – while the trade fair company Pitti Immagine created the BeCycle salon (26-28 June) dedicated precisely to the world of cycling, destined to become annual. The real impact on the city, in terms of attendance and economic return, is expected for the weekend of 29-30 June.
Tuscan beauty on TV all over the world
Palazzo Vecchio has estimated that there will be spills on the Tuscan streets crossed by the race 800-900 thousand people, and is counting on the fact that the Tour will spread Tuscan beauty throughout the world on TV around the world and on social media. The estimates made in recent months on theeconomic impact of the race in Florence is estimated at 20-25 million euros between hotels, restaurants and various purchases made by cycling enthusiasts and teams: between professionals and journalists, the Tour de France moves 4,000 people.
The hotels are full (even without the Tour)
On the hotel front, for now, there are no signs of price changes. The rates for a room for the weekend of 29-30 June remain in line with the current ones: on a leading portal like Booking.com at the moment 18% of the facilities are available for the night of Saturday 29 June, against 16% of facilities available for Saturday 22 June and only 8% of facilities available for tonight, Saturday 15 June. The Tour de France is therefore part of a period of great tourist influx for Florence, with the city already very crowded with both Italians and foreigners and problems of overtourism and coexistence with residents, which now risk worsening.
The return on image will have an effect over the years
In any case, the Tour will most likely also bring last minute bookings (with the price increase linked, as always, to the filling percentage), even if the event has been planned for a long time and who was planning to see the Florentine departure should have already been set in motion. If the return in terms of spending by fans and teams can be calculated, the return in terms of image that the Tour’s passage through Florence, spread across dozens and dozens of countries, will have in the future will be more difficult to estimate. More than in other sports, the scenography counts in cycling – explained the organizers of the Tour – and the vision of excellence is the one from above taken from the helicopter. The Tour feeds on beauty and Italy, like France, is a magnificent country.
