Lake Garda’s Brescia Side Lacks Conference Centers, Unlike Verona
Most hotels are closed, campgrounds are entirely shut down, and residences and apartments are scarcely occupied: this is the atmosphere on the Brescia side of Lake Garda.
Situation from the Verona side
Things are different on the Verona side. It is a true mortuary that will mostly continue until the Easter period. About a week of intense activity and then back into hibernation until Pentecost, followed by the start of the tourist season, which in recent years has gradually shortened to less than the famous forty days.
This paradoxical situation is occasionally brought to light, with great promises and guarantees of initiatives, aiming to find innovations that could lead to the ever-praised extension of the season, which however never materializes. Perhaps it is the hotel owners themselves who do not believe or do not want the extension of the tourist season on Lake Garda, at least those of our side.
The long season on the Verona side
On the other hand, the long season has already been achieved with great success. Also because our “cousins” did not wait for special assistance or interventions. During the congress seasons, which last almost all year round, excluding Ferragosto, they believed in it by creating a real business.
Numerous conference centers have been built in recent years; the most recent, or perhaps one of the latest, was completed last June in Cavaion, focusing most of its activity on conventions, with multiple rooms of varying capacities, equipped with all comforts, while hotel accommodation options are relatively limited.
Conference centers on the Brescia side
On the Brescia side, there are no real conference centers. The prestigious Villa Alba in Gardone Riviera has been reduced to a venue for representation. The main locations lack facilities capable of hosting 500-600 people at once. Sirmione is awaiting the reopening of its congress center, inaugurated in the sixties by Aldo Moro.
In Valtenesi, fog! And it is precisely in this area, or rather in the seven municipalities that make it up, that a venue could be built from scratch to become a reference point for conference activities that could give a new boost to the struggling local economy, as well as to hotel facilities and commercial activities that operate year-round tourism.
Proposal for a congress center in Padenghe
Recently, there seems to be particular interest in Padenghe, near the Lonato beach, not far from the Santa Giulia Inn, in the construction of a dedicated and reserved center exclusively for congress and exhibition activities.
The mayor of Padenghe, Giancarlo Allegri, has recently been informed about this possibility; he expressed, on a personal level, great interest in this proposal, which is currently in its early stages. If roses bloom, they will flourish.
Supporting this potential project, there are already some accommodation facilities in the area capable of hosting congress participants: the Hotel Santa Giulia (around 30,000 overnight stays in 1999), the upcoming Hotel Garda Sole, and the new Relais Santa Giulia hotel, a 5-star with suites and rooms totaling 500 beds. Estimated completion time for the congress center?: Spring 2001!