Black Summer: Declining Tourism and Business Sentiment in Riva
More worrying than simple creaks are the signals coming from the commercial sector. Regardless of product categories, the merchants’ feedback is unanimous: this is a black summer. And this time, it doesn’t seem to be just the usual grumbling: the reasons for dissatisfaction are real.
Commercial and Tourist Situation
“Beyond the quantitative aspect,” explains Elio Bresciani, of the eponymous perfume shop, “the clientele has also deteriorated qualitatively. For some time, the average tourist in Riva no longer wants or cannot spend, and this year, it’s even more noticeable. On the other hand, this is the result of the tourism policies of recent years: Riva, besides its landscape, offers nothing else, and so it has transformed into a stopover for groups of elderly foreigners heading to Venice, Florence, or other tourist destinations.”
August, like the rest of the summer, was slow for clothing stores, where the usual rush for sales didn’t occur. “Foreigners,” reveals Martina Zanolli of the Caffè Nero shop, “aren’t shopping anymore. Even the British, despite benefiting from the exchange rate, seem quite reluctant to buy. Additionally, there’s been a significant drop in visitors.”
In August of previous summers, for example, all the rest periods were temporarily suspended, and stores stayed open until 10 p.m. This year, however, there’s absolutely no need for overtime, and since there are very few people out in the evenings, the owners have decided to close at 8 p.m.
Shop and Business Situation
Even the owners of the Biatel photography studio and shop in via Maffei are far from satisfied. “The situation has slightly improved during this week,” they explain, “but summer 2000 is truly forgettable. Visitors have decreased, the quality of tourists has declined, and the bad weather in recent weeks has done the rest.”
The risk that all operators foresee is that, in various sectors, a downward race has already begun to attract tourists. A race that bodes badly for the years to come.
