Italian beaches are overrun by content creators Once again, it's overtourism's fault

Last year, the government of the Balearic Islands – the Spanish archipelago that includes islands such as Mallorca, Ibiza, Menorca and Formentera, visited every year by hundreds of thousands of tourists – ended its collaboration with some content creators who were promoting local destinations. The aim of the initiative was to distribute visitor flows toward less frequented areas of the archipelago, thereby easing the overtourism typical of the most well-known destinations; however, tourists began to flock in large numbers even to the remote areas promoted on social networks, in figures far beyond expectations, with significant environmental impacts.

Social networks, after all, tend by their very nature to fuel mass tourism, encouraging – more or less indirectly – the typical logic of “fast in and out” travel. Recently, a study conducted by Europe Private Tours – a Portuguese agency specializing in luxury private tours in Europe – analyzed Instagram hashtag data to compile a ranking of the most shared European beaches on social networks. Publishing market research is an increasingly common practice among travel agencies and portals, which use these reports also and above all as a communication tool. At the top of the ranking, by a clear margin over all others, is Oludeniz in Turkey, with nearly one million associated hashtags. In second and third place are Navagio Beach in Greece and Golden Beach in Cyprus. The ranking continues with Nissi Beach, again in Cyprus, and Scala dei Turchi in Sicily – which counts nearly 250,000 associated hashtags.

Italy is the country with the highest number of beaches included in Europe Private Tours’ ranking, with eleven locations listed among the top 69 positions. Sicily accounts for three of them: in addition to Scala dei Turchi, there are San Vito Lo Capo and Cala Rossa. Sardinia is the most represented region, with five beaches: La Pelosa, Cala Luna, Cala Goloritzé, Tuerredda and Cala Coticcio. The ranking also includes Tropea in Calabria, and the Fiordo di Furore on the Amalfi Coast in Campania.

The case of Scala dei Turchi

It is not surprising that the Scala dei Turchi is at the top of the ranking compiled by Europe Private Tours: in recent years it has become one of the main tourist attractions of the province of Agrigento and Sicily, and it has been chosen as a location for numerous films and TV series. It is a striking white limestone cliff whose name derives both from its shape, resembling a large staircase sculpted over centuries by wind and sea erosion, and from the tradition according to which, in the 16th century, Saracen pirates (improperly called “Turks” by the local population) used it as a landing point for their raids on the island.

The increase in tourist flows toward Scala dei Turchi has accelerated erosion processes and caused some collapses of the cliff. For this reason, and due to a legal dispute over ownership of the area, in February 2020 the Agrigento Public Prosecutor’s Office ordered its preventive seizure, prohibiting access to visitors. Despite the ban, numerous bathers and tourists have continued to visit the cliff, especially at sunset, when controls were less frequent. Today, Scala dei Turchi is a public asset with regulated access.

How important is tourism for Italy

In Italian politics, tourism has long been given very high importance: it is often described as one of the most valuable sectors of the economy and one of the areas on which to focus to promote the growth of the country. In reality, it is a sector characterized by numerous critical issues: it is not very dynamic, fragmented, with low competition, limited possibilities for innovation, often demanding working conditions and relatively low wages. It also exerts strong pressure on territories and local resources. For these reasons, many economists believe it is not the sector on which to concentrate the main development strategies for the future.

Tourism accounts for about 6% of Italian GDP and rises to about 13% if closely related activities such as restaurants and transport are included. It is therefore a significant sector both in terms of its economic weight and the number of people it employs, but this is not enough to make it decisive for the country’s growth. To assess the strategic importance of a sector, one must also consider its ability to attract investment, increase productivity, foster innovation, and create skilled, well-paid employment. From this perspective, tourism shows structural limits that do not depend solely on the quality of Italian entrepreneurship, but on the inherent characteristics of the sector itself.

This does not mean that Italy should stop investing in tourism, which remains an important sector for the national economy. However, economists agree that governments should allocate a greater share of resources to sectors with higher productivity growth potential, such as industry, technology sectors, and financial services. In these markets, development prospects are generally better: investment increases, wages rise, more skilled jobs are created, and overall the contribution to economic growth and societal well-being is greater.