More tourists than residents, Lazise first municipality in Veneto: 'But watch out for sustainability'

14 October 2023

Not all that glitters is gold. This also applies to tourism development, which when it is not regulated shows the other side of the coin: so-called 'overtourism' or tourist overcrowding. A phenomenon that affects Lake Garda, as confirmed by the first Report on Veneto overtourism illustrated yesterday, 13 October, in Rimini by Federalberghi Veneto and the consulting firm Sociometrica.

The intensity index ranking
Of the 563 municipalities in the Veneto region, 369 have tourism significance. The ranking of municipalities with the highest intensity index, i.e. with the highest ratio of tourist presences (number of overnight stays) to resident population, is dominated by Garda resorts: in first place is Lazise (the annual average is 1.5 tourists per resident) followed by three seaside resorts.

Further down Bardolino (5th place), Malcesine (6th), Garda (9th), Peschiera (10th), Brenzone (12th), Torri (16th) and San Zeno di Montagna (18th).

Tourism Exposure
Combining the two indicators (ratio of tourists/residents and tourists/municipal area) we obtain the 'Tourism Exposure', the exposure to tourism of a locality: in first place there is always Lazise followed by three seaside resorts, but the ranking also includes in order Malcesine, Bardolino, Garda, Peschiera, Brenzone, Torri and San Zeno.

Underestimated data
"We expected this," says Ivan De Beni, president of Federalberghi Garda Veneto, "we have been insisting for years that the 'container' risks filling up in a disorderly and unsustainable manner. All the more so, reflects De Beni, considering that the analysis was conducted on official numbers and that many presences linked to short rentals remain submerged, with the consequence that the data are underestimated.
"We are very concerned when we see municipalities authorising new land consumption: how far do we want to go? When residents are stressed the location is no longer welcoming and the tourist himself does not want to spend his holiday in a chaotic place'.

Read the full article on:  https://www.larena.it/territorio-veronese/garda-baldo/overtourism-veneto-lazise-prima-veneto-1.10330747#:~:text=Il%20Comune%20del%20basso%20lago,a%20che%20punto%20vogliamo%20spingerci%3F%C2%BB