Rome is Italy's most popular destination in terms of both incoming and domestic visitors, due to its wide range of historical and cultural heritage sites. After 30 centuries of history, including barbarian invasions and enemy occupations, the Italian capital is now facing the pressures of mass tourism. Due to a large number of historical monuments in the region, Rome is particularly vulnerable.
Located in the Mediterranean, the capital of Italy has long been an extremely popular destination. Italy remains the top 3 most visited city in the European Union in today's globalized world, standing behind Paris and London. In 2018, Rome was visited by ~9.7 million international travelers, up by 1.8% than last year and is forecasted to follow a similar growth in the near future and Chinese tourists continued to lead the ranking of arrivals to Rome in 2018, to add on, economic contributions from tourism cannot be overlooked – US$4.5 billion was spent by foreign visitors alone in 2016.
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Local tourism has increased with more than 5 million trips in 2018 than in 2017, up by 3.7%. One of the main reasons contributing to the growth is the fact that the center of the Catholic city – Vatican City, is in Rome, a huge number of religious Italians pay a visit every year to see the Pope in St. Peter’s Square, from this phenomenon, we can see that cultural tourism plays a very important part in domestic tourism.
In recent decades, a tourist boom is seen in Rome, in the early 1970s, there are less than a million visitors every year, and almost 10 million tourists have traveled to Rome in 2018, caused by the advent of low-cost air and rail travel, along with fewer visa restrictions for travelers from more countries outside the European Union. The growing number of tourists imposed a great economic impact in Rome, resulting in the growth of businesses, higher employment rate but also in an increase in prices of products and living costs. Urban areas that experience this kind of change also have to deal with the increase in the price of properties and real estate. A recent finding of sustainable tourism measuring the carrying capacity of Rome indicates that the cost-benefit tourism balance in Rome is currently experiencing significant revenue losses. Optimal income corresponding to the total satisfaction of tourism-dependent and non-tourism-dependent individuals is about $12 billion a year and is higher than the actual figure of about $5 billion a year, suggesting a loss of about $7 billion a year in social benefit.
The increasing number of tourists and tourist attractions will boost a city's cultural aspect, while cultural heritage is at risk because it can be overused. The phenomenon of tourism paradox is greatly affecting Rome, the underlying cause is that over the decades, people from all over the world visit Rome to see the historical heritage sites and monuments because of its authenticity, however slowly over time, because of the constant disturbance by visitors, the heritage sites are endangered, and a large number of them are less authentic or even physically destroyed by tourist.
Rome's tourism industry has given the city numerous social issues. Firstly, the standardization of urban space, urban city areas are becoming very similar as they all seek to follow the same tactics, such as the pedestrianization of historic centers, the open-air market, and events. Such a system destroys urban identity as spaces are homogenized and uniqueness declines. Secondly, the commodification of urban spaces, eventually, streets become filled with the same shops, offering the same goods, as the tourists are looking for the same luxury goods everywhere. Therefore, the local, authentic products, traditions, and history become eroded and local identity dissipates. Lastly, distorting local history, Heritage tourism is often incorporated by presenting a romantic and positive image of their past. People are unlikely to visit places that portray a negative image of their culture, contributing to inaccurate historical interpretation.
The increasing tourist demand also brings environmental problems. Air pollution, noise, urban congestion, increase in waste. There are usually no positive effects when it comes to the environment. Waste management remains to be the biggest issue in 2018: the median waiting time for waste collection has risen to 2-3 weeks with the aggregation of trash outside and close to full street waste bins. The continued presence of waste on the streets resulted in the uncontrolled onset of crows, bugs, rats, seagulls and even wild boars. Moreover, The Italian capital city is one of the world's busiest cities. Carbon emission at such amount by vehicles is affecting the thousands of historic monuments located there.
The capital of Italy has always been seen as the ‘cradle of civilization and Christian culture’. One of the reasons that Rome has become one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe is attributed to its unique architectural heritage. Rome is filled with the culture and art of ancient Rome. Over the span of thousands of years, many of the buildings, monuments, and paintings have been well protected, enabling people to truly appreciate Rome's historical significance. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recognized the historic center of Rome and Vatican City as World Heritage Sites in 1990 (UNESCO 2012).
Ancient Rome's ruins are dispersed throughout the historic center and shape a travel itinerary that is part of the open-air experience of the region. The city's iconic squares also lead to a network of interconnected open spaces. The main sights of Rome: the Colosseum, the Forum, the Vatican Museums, St. Peter's Basilica, the Pantheon.
Rome's numerous heritage sites have been a symbol of the Roman Empire over the centuries, a religious center, a significant archaeological hub and artistic limelight. Rome holds some of the most important works of medieval art, Renaissance and Baroque, Neoclassicism and even Fascist Architecture, in addition to the formidable ruins of the Roman Empire, therefore, cultural tourism and religious tourism contributes to a big part of Rome's tourism industry.
In recent years, however, there has been substantial vandalism in the historic center of Rome, several visitors have been charged for writing their names in the Colosseum and attempting to steal one of the bricks of the monument. A visitor ripped one of the tusks of the Gian Lorenzo Bernini's 17th-century Elephant close to the Pantheon and another destroyed the base of the statue of the Barcaccia boat; an intention was also made to cut the corner off a Renaissance painting in a private museum and countless visitors were charged or imprisoned for bathing at the Trevi Fountain and painting graffiti on cultural iconic landmarks.
International Demand Increase - Attraction - Religious and Cultural Tourism
Cultural factors have a profound impact on the market for tourism. Millions of people go to the holy cities every year on religious trips such as the Muslims traveling to Mecca. Besides that, people go on cultural trips to learn other countries' cultures as well. Culture is a major force that affects worldwide tourism demand. “Religious tourism has been one of the oldest forms of tourism since it has developed with humanity. Religious tourism is motivated by reasons such as interest, learning new cultures or engaging in particular spiritual rituals and beliefs” (Saayman, Saayman, and Gyekye, 2014).
Rome is very important for religious tourism and is visited annually by approximately 16 million pilgrims, about 40% of whom are incoming tourists. This number is expected to increase further steadily. Pope Francis' election in 2013 had a positive influence on the flows of tourism in the region. A growing number of domestic and international tourists visit Rome every year to partake in Sunday and Wednesday masses conducted by the Pope.
The Vatican Museums, which belonged to the Vatican City's independent state, remained to be the second most visited tourist attractions in Rome. In 2018, the number of tourists visiting the Vatican Museums has risen to 5.5 million by more than 7%. The good performance of the attractions represents a positive trend in Italy's cultural tourism.
The archaeological region including the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and the Palatino appeared to be Rome's top tourist attraction in 2018, growing to 7.4 million tourists by 5.7 billion opposed to 2017. In 2018, the Colosseum became the most popular tourist attraction in the world.
International Demand Decrease - Rome Is Not Safe
In 2014, the press in several countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, and France, claimed that Rome was not a safe city due to excessive micro-crimes robberies and thefts, degrading the city's overall image abroad.
According to reports by the Italian National Police, the number of home burglaries and car break-ins involving the Roman public, in general, has increased slightly since the previous years. Vehicle break-ins are more likely to occur while parked in public areas. Criminals steal electronic gadgets and other valuables left in sight. Criminals also target visitors and foreigners for easy targets, crimes include pickpocketing, purse snatching, and robberies from parked vehicles. Stealing passports are of particular concern. There are also numerous reports of pickpockets and pickpocket slashes in public transport.
Buses trains other public transportations appear to be very busy during the rush hour, and many victims do not know that they were theft. Victims mentioned ripping their handbags open and taking their valuables, while men lost things from the pockets of the internal jacket. ATAC Bus Route No. 64 from Termini to St. Peter's Basilica is a problem-stricken theft route.
Local Demand Increase - Attraction - Film Tourism
Film tourism is a growing trend worldwide, driven by both the development of the film industry and the growth in international travel. Movie tourism's advantages are becoming increasingly obvious. Movie tourism appeals to broad and diverse audiences, it delivers something for everyone, just like the movies themselves, and tourism companies can use films as a stepping stone for marketing campaigns if the films are made at the destination.
‘Roman Holiday’, made in 1953 by William Wyler, is a movie, filmed entirely in Rome and beloved by generations of people. Starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, the film won three Oscars. This movie is a good example of how people are attracted to come to visit Rome due to films produced here.
Local Demand - Demographic - Ageing Population
Modern societies are changing rapidly, shaped by lower fertility rates, longer life expectancy, urbanization, and migration. Such an unprecedented demographic change poses new challenges affecting the whole of society. Changing demographics in the tourism sector would primarily affect the segments of travel, however, demographic change will also bring new possibilities for the tourism sector.
For Italy, a 2015 study shows that the relative proportion of elderly people (65/+ years of age) in the Italian population is 17.8%, up to 10.2 million, making it the second oldest country in the EU. The hospitality industry can better predict the tourism flow and more became more immune to seasonal changes. Pensioners travel throughout the year and prefer to travel in the 'low season' with cheaper and more reasonable prices and fewer tourists.
It was founded that visitors aged 65 or older accounted for more than 1 out of 5 tourism nights for private purposes by EU residents in 2014, whereas people aged 55 or older accounted for 39%. Tourists aged 65 or older are more likely to make longer travel journeys, especially trips inside their country of residence, meaning that due to aging population caused demographic changes, elderlies are more eager to travel domestically and since they have retired, they have more disposable income, boosting the tourism industry within their country.
Tourism Demand in the Next 5-10 Years
Tourism demand in Italy, in general, will rise in the next 5 years, from more than 62 million inbound arrival trips in 2019 to more than 70 inbound arrival trips in 2024, and leisure arrivals takes up most numbers of arrivals, more than 52 million and more than 29 million respectively, and a large portion of leisure visitor traveling to Italy would visit cultural heritage site in Rome, the Capital city in Italy, therefore, the demand for cultural heritage site in Rome will rise significantly in the future.
As a consequence of the social media upheaval in recent years, the tourism system relies primarily on information and communication technology for promotional activities, advertising and the creation of consumer service relationships. When a tourist makes the final decision on the choice of destination, the most important information comes from interpersonal online influence-word of mouth online.
While social media becomes more and more vocal, consumers with their own opinions and experiences are constantly influencing other consumers. Because social media is low-cost and non-biased, it is an asset of marketing communications. According to a research that based on 4600 travelers, from, China, Australia, France, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Denmark, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, UK and US who had taken not less than one leisure trip in the past year or planned to over the course of the next year, says that: 1) those under the age of 34, 87% of them use Facebook for travel inspiration, 2) over half also use Twitter, Pinterest and other social media platforms for inspiration, 3) 52% post videos and photos during their travels, while a quarter of them write reviews.
Since Italy’s capital is now facing the challenges of over-tourism, thus over the next 5 years and Roman's cultural heritage are threatened with problems like vandalism and graffiti, social media could be of help. The government could promote the culture of protecting and treasuring this tangible heritage dating back to 30 centuries by 1) awarding influences to promote protection, and 2) hold online media campaigns and competitions to draw travelers' attention towards such issue.
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