Editing Tourism in Italy (section)

== History ==
[[File:Overlooking Capri harbour from the rotunda in Villa San Michele Anacapri 2013.jpg|thumb|Islands such as [[Capri]] became popular in the late 14th century and first decade of the 19th century.]]
[[File:Forum in Pompeii 2.jpg|thumb|The [[Forum (Roman)|Forum]] of [[Pompeii]] with [[Vesuvius]] in the distance. Pompeii is Italy's third and the world's 48th most visited destination, with over 2.5 million tourists a year.]]
[[File:Vernazza and the sea, Cinque Terre, Italy.jpg|thumb|[[Cinque Terre]] on the [[Italian Riviera]], one of the most popular tourist destinations in Italy]]

===Beginnings===
People have visited Italy for centuries, yet the first to visit the peninsula for touristic reasons were aristocrats during the [[Grand Tour]], beginning in the 17th century, and flourishing in the 18th and the 19th century.<ref name="grand-tour">{{cite web|url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/grand-tour/|title=Grand Tour|access-date=6 May 2022|language=it}}</ref>

[[Rome]], as the capital of the [[Roman Empire]], attracted thousands to the city and country from all over the empire, which included a great part of Europe, Western Asia and Northern Africa. Traders and merchants came to Italy from several different parts of the world.
When the empire fell in 476 AD, Rome was no longer the epicentre of European politics and culture; on the other hand, it was the base of the [[papacy]], which then governed the growing [[Christianity|Christian]] religion, meaning that Rome remained one of Europe's major places of pilgrimage. Pilgrims, for centuries and still today, would come to the city, and that would have been the early equivalent of "tourism" or "religious tourism".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-05-19 |title=Pilgrimage in the Middle Ages - Insider's Travel |url=https://insiderstravel.io/pilgrimage-middle-ages-history/ |access-date=2024-06-03 |website=insiderstravel.io |language=en-US}}</ref> The trade empires of Venice, Pisa and Genoa meant that several traders, businessmen and merchants from all over the world would also regularly come to Italy. In the 16th and early 17th centuries, with the height of the Renaissance, several students came to Italy to study Italian architecture.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Flemish Artists’ Training Voyages in Italy {{!}} EHNE |url=https://ehne.fr/en/encyclopedia/themes/arts-in-europe/geography-and-circulation-artistic-models/flemish-artists%E2%80%99-training-voyages-in-italy |access-date=2024-06-03 |website=ehne.fr |language=en}}</ref>

===Grand Tour===
{{main|Grand Tour}}
Real "tourism" only affected Italy in the second half of the 17th century, with the beginning of the [[Grand Tour]]. This was a period in which European aristocrats, many of whom were British, visited parts of Europe, with Italy as a key destination.<ref name="grand-tour"/> For Italy, this was in order to study ancient architecture, local culture and to admire the natural beauties.<ref name="getty">{{cite web|url=http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/grand_tour/what.html|title=Italy on the Grand Tour (Getty Exhibitions)|access-date=9 June 2015}}</ref> The Grand Tour was in essence triggered by the book ''Voyage to Italy'', by Roman Catholic priest Richard Lassels, and published in 1670.<ref name="vasi.uoregon.edu">{{cite web|url=http://vasi.uoregon.edu/grandtour.html|title=18th Century Rome and the Grand Tour|access-date=9 June 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://geography.about.com/od/historyofgeography/a/grandtour.htm|title=The History of the Grand Tour of Europe|author=Matt Rosenberg|work=About.com Education|access-date=9 June 2015|archive-date=5 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101205235817/http://geography.about.com/od/historyofgeography/a/grandtour.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Due to the Grand Tour, tourism became even more prevalent  – making Italy one of the most desired destinations for millions of people.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Changing Mobilities|last=Hom|first=Stephanie|publisher=London:Routledge|year=2016|isbn=9781138778146}}</ref> Once inside what would be modern-day Italy, these tourists would begin by visiting Turin for a short while. On the way there, Milan was also a popular stop, yet a trip to the city was not considered essential, and several passed by or simply stayed for a short period of time. If a person came via boat, then they would remain for a few days in Genoa. Yet, the main destination in Northern Italy was Venice, which was considered a vital stop,<ref name="vasi.uoregon.edu" /> as well as cities around it such as Verona, Vicenza and Padua.

As the Tour went on, Tuscan cities were also very important itinerary stops. Florence was a major attraction, and other Tuscan towns, such as Siena, Pisa, Lucca and San Gimignano, were also considered important destinations. The most prominent stop in Central Italy, however, was Rome, a major centre for the arts and culture, as well as an essential city for a Grand Tourist.<ref name="vasi.uoregon.edu" /> Later, they would go down to the Bay of [[Naples]],<ref name="vasi.uoregon.edu" /> and after their discovery in 1710, [[Pompeii]] and [[Herculaneum]] were popular too. Sicily was considered a significant part of the trail, and several, such as [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe]], visited the island.

===Mass tourism===
Throughout the 17th to 18th centuries, the Grand Tour was mainly reserved for academics or the elite. Nevertheless, circa 1840,<ref name="vasi.uoregon.edu"/> rail transport was introduced and the Grand Tour started to fall slightly out of vogue; hence, the first form of mass tourism was introduced. The 1840s saw the period in which the Victorian middle classes toured the country. Several Americans were also able to visit Italy, and many more tourists came to the peninsula. Places such as Venice, Florence, Rome, Naples and Sicily still remained the top attractions.

Like many other Europeans, Italians rely heavily on public transport. Italy is a relatively small country and distances are reduced.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-12-30|title=Public Transport in Italy|url=https://www.etiasitaly.com/public-transport-italy-foreign-travelers/|access-date=2021-12-13|website=Etias Italy|language=en}}</ref>

As the century progressed, fewer cultural visits were made, and there was an increase in tourists coming for Italy's nature and weather. The first seaside resorts, such as those on the Ligurian coast, around Venice, coastal Tuscany and Amalfi, became popular. This vogue of summer holidays heightened in the [[fin-de-siècle]] epoch, when numerous "Grand Hotels" were built (including places such as [[Sanremo]], [[Lido di Venezia]], [[Viareggio]] and [[Forte dei Marmi]]). Islands such as Capri, Ischia, Procida and Elba grew in popularity, and the Northern lakes, such as Lake Como, Maggiore and Garda were more frequently visited. Tourism to Italy remained very popular until the late-1920s and early-1930s, when, with the Great Depression and economic crisis, several could no longer afford to visit the country; the increasing political instability meant that fewer tourists came. Only old touristic groups, such as [[the Scorpioni]], remained alive.

After a big slump in tourism beginning from approximately 1929 and lasting after [[World War II]], Italy returned to its status as a popular resort, with the [[Italian economic miracle]] and raised living standards; films such as ''[[La Dolce Vita]]'' were successful abroad, and their depiction of the country's perceived idyllic life helped raise Italy's international profile. By this point, with higher incomes, Italians could also afford to go on holiday; coastline resorts saw a soar in visitors, especially in Romagna. Many cheap hotels and ''pensioni'' (hostels) were built in the 1960s, and with the rise of wealth, by now, even a working-class Italian family could afford a holiday somewhere along the coast. The late 1960s also brought mass popularity to mountain holidays and skiing; in Piedmont and the Aosta Valley, numerous ski resorts and chalets started being built. The 1970s also brought a wave of foreign tourists to Italy in search of a sentimental trip,<ref>[https://www.academia.edu/7961209/Villoresi_old_charm_-The_Trip_to_Italy Villoresi old charm -The Trip to Italy]</ref> since Mediterranean destinations saw a rise in global visitors.

Despite this, by the late 1970s and early 1980s, economic crises and political instability meant that there was a significant slump in the Italian tourist industry, as destinations in the Far East or South America rose in popularity.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/297474/Italy#|title=Italy|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=9 June 2015}}</ref> Yet, by the late-1980s and early-1990s, tourism saw a return to popularity, with cities such as Milan becoming more popular destinations. Milan saw a rise in tourists since it was ripening its position as a worldwide [[fashion capital]].