Introduction
At present, tourism is one of the most promising sectors of the world economy, ensuring the satisfaction of one of basic human needs - the need for rest. Many countries are rich in cultural and historical areas, but Italy should be highlighted among all of them, because of its unique architecture, history, culture, and mainly because of the great importance in tourist activity. The “face” of the country has changed dramatically over the last century. The fame of modern Italy is provided not only by producing automobiles, chemical products, fashionable clothes and shoes, popular worldwide films, but also by the beautiful Mediterranean landscapes, snow-white peaks of the Alps, the orange groves of Sicily, the Tuscan vineyards and Lazio, a gold mine of countless monuments of the centuries-old Italian culture.
The purpose of this essay is to reveal the tourist potential of the tours to Italy.
Body
The topic of the essay is very important, because there are many reasons why the tourism in Italy is very popular. These reasons include:
1) The excellent climate and beautiful nature. Very few places on earth can compete with the beauty of landscapes of Italy. Italy is a strong competitor to such countries as Spain, Montenegro, France, Turkey and Egypt. An excellent service is here and a very well-developed beach infrastructure. If we add this to all the riches of Italian nature, it becomes obvious why millions of tourists every year choose Italy. Italy beaches worth to be visited at least once in a lifetime.
2) A large number of attractions that have come down to us from the ancient times. There are many historical sites and monuments, so the tours to Italy are very popular. More than 40 million tourists come to Italy every year to look at the remains of the former glory of the Roman Empire. Strict Rome, romantic Venice, funny Florence, night mysterious Naples and Arezzo - all these cities will give the tourist an unforgettable experience of a trip to Italy. The famous Colosseum, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Venice Carnival – the attractions of Italy can be listed for a long time. Everyone knows that Italy is a country of great artists. There are many museums and art galleries where you can see the works of Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Giotto, Titian or Altikero.
3) Italian food: risotto, ravioli, pasta, Chianti, pizza. Local cuisine is considered one of the most fashionable in the world, as the chefs often use a very original combination of ingredients.
4) The Alps and prestigious ski resorts. They have become popular in the last century, and today this tourism area includes well-equipped slopes, the great network of ski lifts and plenty of entertainment: from bars and restaurants to discos and nightclubs. Alps can rightly be called a paradise for skiers. The biggest success enjoyed San Martino di Castrozza, Araba, Val di Fassa, Alta Badia, Vale Isarco and Bormio.
5) The famous Italian shopping. The annual seasonal sales in Italy attract fashionistas from around the world.
Best time to visit: if the purpose of the trip to Italy is the excursion programme, then it can be visited in any season. If you want to combine a beach holiday with excursions, it is preferable to visit in the period from May to September. Ski resorts in Italy are open to tourists all year round.
Italy has an extensive network of hotel and hospitality companies.The hospitality services providing additional accommodations are campsites, private accommodation, tourist villages, alpine shelters, rest houses, etc.. The share of hotels is about two-thirds of all placements. The remaining one third is private apartments, camping sites, tourist villages and so on.
Road traffic in Italy is right-handed (the wheel is from the left side) ("Driving in Italy | RAC", 2016). Italy has an extensive network of railways and roads. More than 90% of passengers and more than 80% of goods are transported by car. In the external transport, the maritime transport is dominating. In the inland transport of goods and passengers major role is played by road transport, the second place is the railway.
In terms of railway electrification, the country takes one of the first places in the world. In Italy, there are about of ¼ of all European motorways (about 7 thousand km) are concentrated, including the world's oldest freeway Milano - Varese, built in 1924. The main transport artery of the country is the Motorway of the Sun, going through the whole of Italy, from Turin via Milan, Florence, Rome, Naples to Reggio Calabria.
There are five international highways through the territory of Italy: London-Paris-Rome-Palermo, London-Lausanne-Milan-Bryn-Deasy, Rome-Berlin-Oslo-Stordan, Rome-Vienna-Warsaw and Amsterdam-Basel-Genoa. About a half of the roads is accounted for northern Italy, in the south of the country the density of the road network is much smaller. The development of road transport in general and, in particular, road construction was negatively affected by the fuel and energy crisis. Funding for the development of transport in Italy is growing every year. Particular attention is paid to the development of the Italian merchant fleet.
In Italy, all kinds of tourism are developed. The first place should be allocated to ski touring, pilgrim tourism and beach holidays.
The ski season is open from December to the end of March, in the mountain resort of Cervinia – to the end of May. The longest chain of the Alps is located in Italy. This is more than a thousand kilometers of mountain ranges, glaciers, alpine meadows and cozy valleys. Italian Alps are the highest peaks in Western Europe - Mont Blanc on the border with France (Courmayeur resort), Monte Rosa and the Matterhorn on the border with Switzerland (Cervinia resort). A unique area of the Dolomites in the northeast Italy attracts with its beauty and cozy Alpine town with all the benefits of civilization ("ITALIA - Spotlight On - Winter Sports - Skiing In Italy", 2016).
Italian ski resorts can be divided into two large territorial groups: western and eastern. Western Group is formed by Sestriere, La Thuile, Courmayeur, Aosta / Pila, Cervinia and Gressoney resorts. Being on the border with France and Switzerland, they absorbed all their best sides: the perfect modern system of lifts and a plenty of good ski slopes. There are about 200 km of major routes of any degree of difficulty, 37 lifts, 8 km of plain trail, a large number of restaurants, discos, shops, boutiques, cinemas, bowling, a variety of nightlife, gaming halls, swimming pools, sauna and gym.
Eastern Group resorts is formed from the region of the Dolomites (Madonna di Campiglio Val di Sole, Val di Fiemme, Val Gardena, Val di Fassa, Cortina d 'Ampezzo and Kronplatz) and Alta Valtellina (Bormio, Santa Caterina, Livigno). Length of trails is 260 km with 103 lifts. This region is especially popular among young people, and thermal springs attract middle-aged people.
Pilgrimage tours as the direction of tourism is a relatively new phenomenon in the tourism sector. Pilgrimage tour is a kind of tourism that includes a travel to the holy places of pilgrimage. The essence of such tours is worship such places. Many pilgrims believe that prayer is more effective in certain areas, which are in any way connected with their religion. Modern pilgrims use the services of travel agencies, which are specifically engaged in this direction. The purpose of the pilgrimage tour is to visit the places connected with historical events or a famous historical figure or a saint.
Italy goes right after Israel by the number of Christian shrines. Today, thanks to the fact that these relics are carefully kept in Italy, there is the opportunity to come to venerate these holy places and pray in the immediate vicinity of them. Popular holy places of Italy include Padre Pio ("Shrine of Padre Pio - San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy", 2016), Pietrelchina, Large Mariana Sanctuary, Pompeii Sant'Anastasia, etc.
Leisure at the sea, lakes and in the mountains is well developed from May to September, on the islands of Ischia and Sicily - till the end of October. The most popular resort area of Italy is located on the Adriatic coast ("Spotlight on: Beaches of Italy", 2016). There is a mild climate, beautiful scenery, excellent sandy beaches and a good infrastructure. The main resorts of the Adriatic coast are Ravenna, Milano Marittima, Bellaria, Rimini, Riccione, Gabicce Mare and Gabicce Monte, Pesaro and the region of Abruzzo. One of the Ligurian coast's most famous resort is Genoa. In Genoa, tourists can combine a beach holiday with a rich excursion program. On the Tyrrhenian coast, the beaches are also sandy and very varied: from the little and intimate to the broad and spacious. On the Tyrrhenian coast, there are located the city of Rome, Naples, Salerno, Cosenza. In these cities, it is also possible to combine a beach holiday with excursions.
All beaches in Italy are municipal. But they are divided into plots and leased to private entrepreneurs. Each site has a beach ranger who keeps order and charge a fee for the use of umbrellas and sunbeds (about 10 EUR) per set. The first five meters of the beach by the water's edge are free. Here you can sunbathe on a towel.
The largest Italian island is Sicily. In Sicily, tourists are attracted to clean, calm and warm sea, delicious cuisine and a rich landscape of nature. In the south of the island, the beaches are sandy, in the north they with sand and shingle or stony. In Italy, there are a lot of places for divers. Tourists can dive almost everywhere. The sea in the area of Villasimius (resort on the island of Sardinia) is of great interest even for experienced divers ("Best Beaches in Italy", 2016). There are 4 wrecks and many reefs in this area.
Conclusion
In this essay, I described Italy as an object of tourist resources. It is possible to say with confidence that this country is very attractive for tourists, it is relevant at the moment and does not stop growing in the tourism industry. There are cultural and historical objects (opportunity for excursion tourism) and many resort areas (development of a beach holiday tourism). In Italy, there is everything for a complete rest for various purposes:
1) The excellent climate and beautiful nature.
2) A large number of attractions that have come down to us from the ancient times.
3) Italian cuisine.
4) The Alps and prestigious ski resorts.
5) Italian shopping.
References
Best Beaches in Italy. (2016). Tuchmanbeachesguide.com. Retrieved 5 May 2016, from http://www.tuchmanbeachesguide.com/best-beaches-in-italy.html
Driving in Italy | RAC. (2016). Rac.co.uk. Retrieved 5 May 2016, from http://www.rac.co.uk/driving-abroad/italy
ITALIA - Spotlight On - Winter Sports - Skiing In Italy. (2016). Italiantourism.com. Retrieved 5 May 2016, from http://www.italiantourism.com/winter.html
Shrine of Padre Pio - San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy. (2016). Sacred-destinations.com. Retrieved 5 May 2016, from http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/san-giovanni-rotondo-padre-pio-shrine
Spotlight on: Beaches of Italy. (2016). Italiantourism.com. Retrieved 5 May 2016, from http://www.italiantourism.com/beaches4.html
