A corner of paradise in the heart of Liguria. Indeed five different paradises, because the Cinque Terre, despite being often perceived as a single entity, are made up of five small municipalities with their own identity that blends with that of the others: Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. Pride of the Ligurian Riviera di Levante, throughout the year these territories become one of the favorite destinations of tourists and in the summer season they are literally besieged by thousands of visitors from all over the world. Even if often, as in Venice, it is hit and run tourism. "An invasion" which in the past has led some to hypothesize even the introduction of a limited number access system. The summer that is about to arrive, however, will be different. It will be “the summer after the coronavirus”, the summer of restart, but also of change. "We must learn something from the devastating experience of Covid-19, starting a process that focuses on quality tourism and not on selfie tourism", he explains to FIRSTonline Donatella Bianchi, president of the Cinque Terre National Park, but also president of the WWF, member of the task force for the restart of Vittorio Colao and presenter of very popular television programs such as "Linea Blu" and "Sereno Variabile".
President Bianchi tells us in this interview how the Cinque Terre are facing these first weeks of restart, but also what are the risks for the productive and agricultural activities that work in a territory as fragile as it is unique and how the wait for the summer is full of expectations and worries. Because the upcoming summer for the five Ligurian Municipalities could be an unprecedented summer.
Doctor Bianchi, on 3 June the government gave the go-ahead for travel between regions. As president of the Cinque Terre National Park, you are closely following the situation of the five Municipalities. How did the first days of reopening go?
“They have been days characterized by a slow recovery, activities have got back on track, but we are still far from the conditions prior to the emergency, also in terms of management capacity. All businesses are affected by the uncertainty caused by the pandemic and there is great concern. We can say that, in a small way, the Cinque Terre show what is happening in the rest of the country: with the energy and strength that distinguish it, the people of the Cinque Terre are organizing themselves to face a season with respect to which there are many expectations , but also a lot of concern. The recovery numbers are still contained, but we can say that we are slowly starting up again".
Isolation, while indispensable, has had and has a high social and economic cost. The Cinque Terre have emptied themselves: are shops, bars, restaurants and hotels suffering a lot from the crisis?
“Most of the businesses have reopened, others are struggling, some will not reopen. Taking the village of Monterosso al Mare as a sample, we can say that 70% of bars, restaurants and wine bars are already active and by 25 June the remaining 30% will start working again. As regards the hotel and non-hotel system, the accommodation facilities are gradually reopening and between the end of June and the beginning of July almost all the hotels will reopen. However, we need to be compact and close to productive activities to ensure that they are able to overcome this moment of great uncertainty. Entrepreneurs were very scared and someone reopened late, as if there had been a queue that went beyond the established deadlines. I believe that tourism will get back on track, we will have to find solutions to accompany the relaunch of tourism businesses and to make sure that the coming months will partially compensate for the losses. What worries me so much is the agricultural sector. We are talking about businesses that have suffered just as much and perhaps more. I am thinking, for example, of the wine producers who have struggled to bring to the cellar an excellent product that has remained unsold. In September there will be the new harvest and we will have to start again having lost all the gains from the previous season. These are problems that can lead to a deep crisis in a production sector that is inextricably linked to the development of the Cinque Terre and to their very survival. Without the farmers, without the winemakers, without the people who take care of the area every day, the Cinque Terre would not exist. As president of the Park, I feel the duty to support these categories so that they continue to carry out that fundamental garrison activity for such a fragile place".
How can these categories be supported?
“With accompanying and compensation initiatives, finding together solutions that manage not only to enhance the product, but also to make operators aware of the choice of each individual product. The aim must be to put the identity context in the foreground, the preference must go towards what comes from the territory. I hope that everyone wants to contribute to a common project based on a model of cohesion and collaboration capable of laying the foundations for the development of a circular economy that will support all the activities of the Cinque Terre. To date we are evaluating the losses, we have started a working table with the categories to try to find solutions together. It's not easy. The Park is also going through difficulties because the extraordinary revenues of past years, linked to the Cinque Terre Card, are not there this year. We all have to look each other in the eye and find a way that allows us to overcome this moment with innovative ideas that do not demean the identity of the Cinque Terre, but enhance it”.
The Cinque Terre are a unicum also from a health point of view. Out of 4 thousand inhabitants, there has been only one case of contagion from Covid-19: thanks to luck or to the strict isolation followed by the Municipalities?
“Merit of compliance with the prescriptions and in some way also of isolation. As is known, many Italian islands have emerged unscathed from the coronavirus. I am thinking of Pantelleria or Ponza where the virus has not arrived. The Municipalities of the Cinque Terre can be compared to islands, they are a bit of a world apart and this has certainly facilitated the containment of the spread of Covid-19. In my opinion, although it is obviously not a scientific reflection, the healthy relationship with nature and the environment that characterizes small villages such as those of the Cinque Terre has also had an impact. They are places where the quality of life is high, where one lives immersed in a very healthy and resilient nature, and this has helped to overcome the most acute period of the health crisis".
What will summer be like in Cinque Terre? How will social distancing be reconciled with the recovery of tourism in such small places?
“As a Park we have adopted the Federparchi protocol which provides guidelines for the use of paths and trails and which provides for fairly strict rules: limiting numbers, limited groups, accompaniment of guides and reservations. This year the use of the Cinque Terre will be regulated and this is the right way to take the direction we hoped for a year ago and which will allow us to overcome the overcrowding and concentration that led the Cinque Terre to be taken by storm. In the 2020 season we will have to start a process of reconversion of the Cinque Terre model that focuses on enhancing nature and the landscape, the agricultural and cultural vocation of the Park area and its people and not on selfie tourism. I obviously hope that the season gets off to a good start, we know that the numbers will be different and that we will have to rebuild a new sustainable hospitality project. Precisely for this reason, indeed, it is necessary to give added value to the tourism that will choose the Cinque Terre. We will not have cruise passengers, coaches or forms of 'hit and run' tourism which in the past filled the five Municipalities but left little from an economic point of view. We will have to try to implement a quality welcome that will increase the value and image of the territory. I believe that something needs to be learned from the devastating experience of Covid-19. The Park is trying to provide all the necessary employment guarantees, protecting both nature and economic activities, but the ability to work together is needed. The Cinque Terre must learn to speak with a single voice”.
Could the health emergency therefore be an opportunity for a permanent change of tourism paradigm: less hit and run tourism and more sustainable and quality tourism? Will there be talk of access to limited numbers or at least a planning of tourist flows?
“The limited number has left our lives. We are so far away from this need that I hope that the subject leaves the debate. Instead, what must enter is the need to implement forms of programming that lead the Cinque Terre to improve its offer focused on higher quality tourism. It will depend on our ability to offer a new way of using the Park and the Cinque Terre territory. Courageous choices will have to be made to ensure that a more selective but also more demanding tourist can find what he is looking for in the Cinque Terre ”.
A few days ago Trenitalia announced a new Frecciarossa that will directly connect Rome and Milan to Monterosso. Could this news help the recovery?
“We have opened a dialogue with RFI and Trenitalia to also improve the quality of the service offered, from the green redevelopment of the stations to the improvement of the tracks. The new link it will help, but in my opinion what must arrive at the Cinque Terre is slow tourism. In the past, the connections with La Spezia already guaranteed the possibility of easily reaching the Cinque Terre and the Cinque Terre Express service made it possible to move easily through the five villages. Frecciarossa gives us one more opportunity. However, the improvement of the stations will be fundamental. It will be necessary to create small stations, even more welcoming, safe and innovative also from an energy point of view, which are able to combine tradition and modernity. Those who arrive in the Cinque Terre must immediately perceive, already at the station, that they have entered a National Park, must be in tune with the identity of the territory they are about to visit”.
When will the way of love reopen? Has the emergency delayed the work to make safety?
“The works on the via dell'Amore do not depend on the Park and will still require some time. However, the Verde Azzurro path that connects the coastal villages of Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso al Mare has recently been reopened and the 'La Beccara' path, an ancient road linking the villages of Riomaggiore and Manarola, will also reopen shortly. The Cinque Terre can count on a 120 km long trail network and since 4 May these unique trails have been rediscovered. The Park is working to further improve the network and its usability".
