(by Benedetta Dalla Rovere) (ANSA) - TRIESTE, 28 LUG - More than 3.5 million tourists chose FVG for their vacations in the first six months of 2023 (up8% compared to 2022); the sector in the region is worth 14% of GDP — data confirmed by the president of Federalberghi FVG, Paola Schneider. "The summer had started very well; we had two beautiful months of May and June; in July, there was a bit of a downturn, mainly related to the weather. There was alarmism in Germany about the heat and bad weather in Italy." The boom especially involves Trieste, "an increasingly international city." "Hoteliers are happy with the season, April to date, even if it is a bit of hit-and-run tourism. But we have almost sold out." A result that is independent of the port calls of the large cruise ships on which the mayor of Trieste, Roberto Dipiazza, is relying: "750,000 cruise passengers arrive in Trieste every year, and even if they were just having a coffee they would make the economy grow." This optimism is only partly shared by shopkeepers: downtown, the "flow is increasingly international," but everything changes if you move away from the city center.
    Slow tourism is also growing in FVG. "Not so much traditional destinations such as Lignano, Grado or Trieste," but, for example, the Alpe Adria cycle route records "excellent numbers" with travelers stopping to sleep. According to Schneider, "Demand has changed: even those who come to the seaside want to get to know the hinterland and share the experience on social media." The origin: Austria, Netherlands, Germany, "they love our gastronomy, the wineries." "If you want to understand Trieste, you have to go to the forests of Slovenia, to the hills of Istria, the stones of the Karst, the islands of Kvarner," says Luigi Nacci, a writer and wanderer who has been leading walking trips for 12 years. Nature has a relevant place in FVG's slow tourism.
    Enrico Maria Milic, anthropologist and creator of the Trieste Green website, run by Gal Carso, which aims to develop and promote rural areas through "88 dates for ten active experiences," strongly believes in the same idea. Also based on nature is the Urbi et Horti proposal of the Bioest association, which manages "30 public gardens in sites offered by the Municipality of Trieste," Tiziana Cimolino says. (ANSA).