2024-04-01 01:52:06
BOLZANO. Inclement weather throughout South Tyrol. There are those who, despite everything, hoped for a ray of sunshine for Easter, checked the forecast hour by hour, then surrendered to the inevitable. It’s raining last minute cancellations even though many tourists resisted the rain. Roland Burattipresident of the Tourist Board, e Manfred Pinzger, president of the Hgv, the South Tyrolean hoteliers’ association, are on the same wavelength: «Late Easter, which arrived very early, did not reward us. But we knew it, because it’s like this every time. The 4,600 beds in Bolzano and the hotels in the province have been filled, but at 70%. And it’s true, there are many cancellations. After all, you just need to look out the window to understand.” The average length of stay is three to four nights. In the city, tourists flock to the museums – you can see the usual endless queues in the rain for the Similaun mummy – and even the guided tours offered by the tourist office are fully booked. Buratti applauds the return of the German families, who had not seen each other for some time due to the galloping inflation, the energy crisis and the collapse in consumption that is affecting their country. «The presence of the Italians was also good. Bolzano – he says – is increasingly international with Italians who feel it is Central European and Northern Europeans who increasingly recognize it as the first obligatory stop where they can stop before leaving for Garda and Italy”. It may have been the rain but the street market Walther – seen like this – appeared to many tourists as a “poor guy, a bad copy of the Christmas one”. But Buratti isn’t there. «It’s not true, the market which has its seventh edition, the third in Piazza Walther, before it was in Berloffa park, inaugurates the spring season in the city. It is always well attended and the stands are much appreciated by tourists and the people of Bolzano despite the rain. Let’s continue until April 1st from 10am to 6pm with gastronomic specialties and local artisan products. And then live music and entertainment, especially for families, with creative workshops on local traditions, games and DIY activities for children and, unmissable on the day of the holiday, Easter rituals such as the treasure hunt together with the “Eierpecken” challenge”. The tourist office would like to remind you that the “Bolzano in Fiore Arte” exhibition will soon return and will be held from 4 April to 1 May. Routes have been developed between nature, art, culture and tradition with the city that will be transformed into the perfect stage for a galaxy of events that will be held in different places. Pinzger explains that the areas preferred by tourists this season are the Oltradige – the entire Caldaro area – and also Bassa Atesina and the Isarco Valley. «The presence in Merano and the Burgraviato is also good. The snow that is continuing to fall is good for the ski season. Above 1,800 meters skiing continues without problems, fans of the latest skiing don’t give up.” Optimism reigns supreme even if last year’s Easter, which fell in the first ten days of April, I recorded completely different music. “It’s going really well – said Buratti in 2023 – we’re not sold out but we’re close.” But the sun was shining high in the sky with highs above 20 degrees. The statistical data for March and April of the last ten years, the minimum period of time to carry out a correct analysis of the flows, highlight a continuous increase in presences. In April we went from 49,584 overnight stays in 2012 to 61,945 in 2022. About 25% more. Arrivals also increased: from 20,574 in 2012 to 24,595 in 2022. Those in 2023 are also very high. “We are waiting for those at the end of April 2024.”
2024-04-01 01:52:06