Lake Garda Tourism Booms with Early Summer and Enhanced Services
The tourist season on Lake Garda is taking off. The early arrival of summer, with temperatures around 30°C yesterday, sunshine, and the end of the school year have accelerated the influx of visitors during this early summer period. The Pentecost holidays and the end of classes in Bavaria have also contributed to the arrival of many tourists from beyond the border.
Early signs of a positive season
In fact, yesterday at the Brenner border crossing, there were queues of tourists up to 12 km long heading toward our country. For the small holiday capitals on Lake Garda, the high season is already starting, coinciding with the first summer exodus. As I mentioned, this growth is also favored by the environmental conditions on the lake, the news about the enhancement of marina and beach services, and also healthcare services.
“The Ascension bridge was very successful, and more generally, the season is seeing numbers that are up compared to previous years,” says Dino Barelli, president of the Sirmione hoteliers. Many foreigners are arriving, and bookings are numerous. The season has started well, boosted by warm and sunny weather.
Situation in the middle and upper lake
Positive reports also come from the middle and upper lake area. “The influx is good,” confirms Gianfranco Montagnoli, president of the Limone hoteliers in the upper Garda. “Our clientele is almost exclusively German, and with the schools in Bavaria closed, bookings are coming in very strongly. The trend appears quite promising. Of course, we hope the Garda highway, the only route connecting with Riva and the Brenner, will not cause us new problems.”
He has always supported the idea of making the existing highway safer before considering new projects. On the same wavelength is Marcello Beschi, president of the hoteliers of Toscolano Maderno.
Forecasts and initiatives
The forecasts for the 2000 season are positive. There are many Germans, although our municipality has always been characterized mainly by Italian clientele. A new development for the middle and upper lake is the launch of the agency “Riviera dei Limoni,” which is tasked with organizing and coordinating events among hoteliers from Salò to Limone and overseeing initiatives in the various lakeside towns.
The promotion will also be unified. It begins with eight evening boat trips (four in Limone, two in Maderno, two in Salò), and from June 18, the association will participate in the Munich fair alongside the Vineyards Consortium.
Lake services
Meanwhile, Lake Garda is focusing on enhancing its services. On Thursday, June 15, the Coast Guard patrol boat will return to emergency response and surveillance service, operating 24 hours a day with a crew of 12 men. To activate it, simply call 1530. Its base of operations is at Bogliaco; the vessel, recently launched from the shipyards of Adria, is a Cp 800 class, measuring 13 meters in length, weighing 12 tons, capable of reaching 30 knots with an autonomous range of 160 miles.
Lake Garda is the first and only Italian lake equipped with this Coast Guard service, activated through cooperation between the Ministry of Transport, the Garda Community, and the three regions bordering the lake.
Emergency medical services are also being strengthened with the establishment of new assistance points in Gargnano and, from mid-June, in Salò. The environmental condition of the Brescia Riviera has also set a record: all 52 monitored beaches are swimmable, according to analyses conducted every 15 days since the start of the swimming season by the Brescia Health Agency.
Traffic issues persist due to the narrow state roads passing through the towns’ centers.