Tourism: flows in the Pavia area recorded a +10% in 2023 compared to five years ago: to date, for the summer of 2024, 71% of rooms have been booked.
Tourism in the province of Pavia
The growing flows in province of Pavia confirm the tourism potential of the area. Last week at Chamber of Commerce the Councilor for Tourism, Territorial Marketing and Fashion of the Lombardy Region, Barbara Mazzali shared development strategies and scenarios with the local stakeholders.
Hotels occupied over 71%
“Last year overnight stays in the Pavia area grew by 10% compared to 2019the ‘golden year’ of Italian tourism (50,791 more stays, for a total of 560,000), with a similar increase in arrivals, which mark a +9.80% compared to 5 years ago”, explains Mazzali citing the calculations of the Regional Observatory on Tourism and Attractiveness.
“Expanding numbers, which see a prevalence of Italians in both indicators“, continues the councilor, also providing some data with respect to the summer season: “The analysis of the offers currently available on online platforms for the months of July and August highlights that the 71% of Pavia’s hotel rooms are already bookedwith a growing average tariff”.
Castles, villages, wine tourism and spas
Mazzali insists on the potential that the Pavia area still has to express in the wake of ‘experiential tourism’.
“Only in the area of the Oltrepò There are 50 historic castles and villages, 100 itineraries, 3,500 agri-food companies and 1,700 wineries, capable of an extraordinary wine tourism offer – the councilor points out -. Furthermore, Pavia is internationally recognized as ‘crossroads’ of religious itineraries10, towards which to direct the offer in view of Jubilee 2025”.
The regional councilor mentions another asset of ‘great value’ in the Pavia area: the spa.
“I am certain – Mazzali comments – that the project of redevelopment of the Salice spa it will be a cornerstone of further development for this wonderful area which has everything it takes to attract tourists from abroad”.
The accommodation offer of the territory
L’international attractiveness goes hand in hand with theaccommodation offer, a point of weakness of Pavese, among the many ‘fronts’ of strength, which emerged in the discussion at the Chamber of Commerce. Today in the province of Pavia there are 88 hotels, approximately 10.37% of the overall territorial offerwhere the non-hotel sector prevails, in particular apartments and houses for rent (448), Bed&Breakfasts and farmhouses (106).
“Last month I inaugurated the opening of the first one ‘glamping’ of the province of Pavia, a Mornico Losanawhere the presence of Dutch people is increasing thanks to this new accommodation offer”, reports Mazzali, also citing the success of the ‘widespread hotel’ in the village of Golferenzowhere it has increased attractiveness”.
Support for the territory also came from a tender by the regional Tourism Department which last year allocated 30 million euros to expand and relaunch the excellence of Lombard accommodation facilitiesoffering them the opportunity to invest for renovate or build ‘from scratch’.
Territorial marketing
Maximum collaboration, also regarding the project territorial marketing which includes the new regional unitary brand, Lombardy Stylewas expressed by the Extraordinary Commissioner of the comments Pavia Chamber of Commerce, Giovanni Merlino:
“Our commitment to supporting and promoting tourism continues, a sector in which the territory has many distinctive skills (cultural, artistic, food and wine, landscape, naturalistic, sporting, etc) today not fully valorised, working in synergy with all the institutional and private actors involved to make our province a destination of excellence recognized at a national and international level. The Chamber of Commerce strongly believes that this sector, directly and indirectly, can substantially impact the wealth that the territory is able to produce annually”.
