Why Chinese tourists love Italy’s quaint rural villages: scenery, solitude, silence – luxuries many don’t have at home
- More Chinese tourists have visited Italy this year than any other European country, with many seeking out the country’s villages and hamlets
- The trend is helping revitalise depopulated villages in rural areas of the country
Forget about France, Germany or Greece – Italy is now the most popular European destination for Chinese tourists.
Numbers are expected to continue growing in 2020, which has been designated the “Italy-China Year of Culture and Tourism”, and next year will also mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
According to Italian tourism authorities, roughly 3.5 million Chinese travellers had visited Italy this year by the end of October, and these tourists are increasingly choosing to visit offbeat destinations in the country as they search for unique travel experiences.
“Chinese visitors are discovering and falling in love with quaint, small rural villages like in the Abruzzo region, where few residents live,” says Gianfranco Bonacci, a cultural expert based in Abruzzo, a scenic province on the Adriatic Sea.
“These spots are far from mass-market destinations. What attracts Chinese tourists is the chance of having a slice of solitude and silence all to themselves,” adds Bonacci, who has worked for Italian public utility companies in China.
“It’s a luxury many don’t have back at home where everything is confined, regulated and limited due to population density, and where spaces are ‘collective’. In Abruzzo’s hamlets, they breathe fresh, unpolluted air, and can look up at the clear sky and stare at the stars.”
