While residents in Rome, Florence and Venice have staged protests
due to overcrowded streets, housing shortages and crowds, the overtourism
boom is helping southern cities like Palermo, according to Reuters.
As more foreign visitors head to Sicily, some residents are
seeing an opportunity to lift the poorer areas out of decades of neglect,
bringing much needed revenue to deprived areas and helping to make neighborhoods
safer.
In a rundown region of Sicily’s capital of Palermo, Brother
Mauro Billetta, head of the Danisinni neighborhood saw possibility in an old,
whitewashed farmhouse that once welcomed pilgrims. After renovation, it is now
a bed and breakfast for tourists offering two rooms.
In March 2025, he opened a
café at the farmhouse overlooking the vegetable garden.
"That was our main goal from the start: to open up this
part of the city, and also to tourists," said Brother Mauro. Danisinni is within
walking distance from two UNESCO World Heritage sites: the Norman Palace and
Palermo Cathedral.
Tourism has helped Palermo revamp its image after difficult
decades that long overshadowed its beauty, like the Cosa Nostra Maria wars of
the 1980s and 1990s.
Palermo welcomed over 800,000 visitors in 2023, a 16 percent
increase from the previous year." Our houses became more valuable and some
of the businesses that opened in recent years, like the restaurants, are good
for the residents as well," said Aurelio Cagnina, while walking his dog
near his home by Palermo's ancient port of La Cala.
Some however are starting to complain that local authorities
are failing to regulate
the tourist boom. Short-term rentals are on the rise - more than 180,000 of
Palermo's visitors in 2023 stayed in non-hotel accommodations, up 44 percent
from 2019, and residents say the growing night life has brought an increase in
drug dealing.
"The lack of intervention is setting the stage for
irreversible transformations. The so-called 'showcase' historic centre is what
is happening," Palermo resident Massimo Castiglia said. He reflects fears
voiced by residents in Florence and Venice that their city centers will become
amusement parks as locals are priced out by visitors.
According to Alassandro Anello, a counselor for tourism in
Palermo, “There is no risk of overtourism. The idea that the historical areas
will become a desert, sold out to short-term rentals does not exist in Palermo
at present.”
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
