Italy unhappy with summer tourist season

The second Saturday and Sunday of August have been marked black by the companies that oversee Italian motorways due to the extreme traffic. According to the not yet final figures, 12.6 million vehicles were on the routes between cities and the coast or mountains.

The week of August 15, the feast of the Assumption, is considered the peak summer period: some factories and shops close and reopen in September. Those who have not yet done so are also going on holiday.

Moreover, the meteorological service predicts that the hottest days of this summer are coming. On Sunday, the mercury will approach forty degrees Celsius in Florence, but also in the Po Valley, in the regions overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea, on the island of Sardinia and on the Adriatic coast.

The Federalberghi hotel association calculated that thirty-six million Italians will take a vacation and travel somewhere between June and September. Eighty-eight percent of them choose domestic holidays.

However, the season is not bringing the expected results – said Bernabo Bocca, president of Federalberghi. He explained that climate change is the reason why many people are no longer traveling for vacation in the summer months or are choosing the mountains instead of the beach.