Mass tourism in Italy: Pompeii limits the number of visitors

The famous archaeological site of Pompeii, near Naples, launched a nominative entry ticket on Friday and imposed a maximum number of 20,000 visits per day, to fight against overtourism like other Italian sites.

“We want to guarantee all visitors a quality experience, which should never be that of mass tourism,” explains the director of the Italian site Gabriel Zuchtriegel to AFP as the doors open, citing “security” reasons. , whether visitors or staff, but also the protection of this unique heritage.

“As the ticket is nominative, it is impossible to resell tickets previously purchased,” he adds. The full price to visit the UNESCO heritage site is 22 euros.

Once past identity checks, tourists can wander in wonder between the amphitheater, the houses and the streets in an exceptional state of conservation, overlooked by Vesuvius, whose eruption buried the city in the year 79.

“It might be complicated”

On this November morning, they enjoy ideal calm to wander through the Roman ruins and are in no risk of exceeding the established limit.

When the high summer season returns, however, “for people who have already booked their plane tickets in advance and who are in a group or with a tour operator, it risks being complicated,” anticipates Dominique Gilbert , tourist from Nancy.

Whether or not they are aware of the new regulations, visitors understand the importance of preserving the site.

“It’s a good idea,” said Jan Kubec, from the Czech Republic. “Overtourism is a global problem and if there are too many people to visit a place, it may no longer be accessible for future generations.”

Ceiling of 20,000 entries

The management of the site indicated that it wanted to experiment with the measure after Pompeii, which welcomed more than 4 million visitors in 2023, experienced particularly busy days. An attendance which could break a new record this year since between January and October Pompeii has already welcomed 3.84 million people, including 36,000 on a Sunday when entry was free.

The ceiling of 20,000 entries per day (15,000 in the morning and 5,000 in the afternoon from April 1 to October 31) could however be readjusted: “We have launched an internal project which provides for the opening of all alleys, of all the streets of Pompeii which are still closed in several districts,” explains Gabriel Zuchtriegel, who thus hopes to better distribute the flow of visitors.

Added to the beauty of the buried city is the emotion faced by the petrified bodies of the victims of the eruption.

The volcanic ash spewed almost 2000 years ago by Vesuvius settled on most of the monuments and homes, which allowed them to be largely preserved. Pompeii covers an area of ​​approximately 22 hectares, a third of which is still unexplored.

Tourist numbers have exploded around the world after the Covid-19 pandemic, and other Italian tourist sites have recently adopted measures to combat overtourism. In the spring, Venice introduced paid entry for busy days.

Italy is the fourth largest tourist destination in the world, with 57.2 million foreign tourists welcomed last year, according to the World Tourism Organization. And many of them focus on the same sites, from Venice to Naples to Rome to Florence.

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