Seventeen days after the end of the state of emergency, with the Easter holidays and the long weekend of 25 April at the gates, the tour operators of the Riviera are trying to look beyond the crisis that has gripped the sector for two years. Postcard-like beaches from Varazze to Andora illuminated by the sun since last Thursday when the school break began. The stop at construction sites on the motorway and the strengthening of railway services with “sea trains” have facilitated departures from the North. Aurelia clogged in Alassio, difficult to find a parking space even for the concomitance of the weekly market on Saturday. The beaches of Finale Ligure, Loano, but also of Laigueglia and Andora are packed.
“A lot of people have arrived – confirms Massimo Galleano, president of the Andorese marine baths – the bathing establishments are open and the Easter weekend has started in the best way”. There is also life in the port with the first boat trips for boaters in Alassio as well as in Andora. The restaurants sold out already on Saturday and will be the same today. «We have received many bookings – confirms Jano Gangi, historical patron of the Galeon di Alassio – In recent days, families of foreigners have also arrived. The good weather is helping us a lot ». For Easter and Easter Monday, the hotels in the province show a recovery in bookings compared to the last few months but the figures remain clearly far from the occupancy levels of the pre-pandemic structures.
“It is the beginning of a journey, of a challenge, now we really need to roll up our sleeves and start again for a season that must be the turning point,” says Stefania Piccardo, new president of the Provincial Union of Hoteliers. The strategies to relaunch tourism are to seize all possible opportunities, but also to offer new services. The Tourism Board has implemented the “Tourist Card” with various discounts for those who spend their holidays on the Riviera. «We are doing very important work together with all economic categories not only to improve the quality of our cities but also that of our tourism strategies, making them wider and more differentiated. It is a great, difficult job, because we come from a severe pandemic and today there is also a dramatic war. If the tourists have arrived these days, it is the confirmation that we are going in the right direction to restart a sector that is confirmed as strategic for the economy of the whole province ”, adds Angelo Berlangieri, president of the industrial union. Many will choose the hit and run holiday and spend a night or two away from home, this afternoon the counter-exodus.