The Monumenti Aperti event, coordinated by the Imago Mundi Volunteer Organization, is in the midst of the fall season of its twenty-ninth edition: the initiative, born in Cagliari in 1997, aims to demonstrate its national vocation and ability to mobilize significant energies around cultural heritage. The numbers of the 2025 spring season, held between May and June, confirm the renewed and warm interest of the public. During that period, the event was attended by more than 200,000 visitors. A total of 67 municipalities were involved, making more than 700 sites accessible through the organization of 59 cultural itineraries. Making this success possible was the network of active citizenship, consisting of 17,226 volunteers from 205 associations and 359 educational institutions.
The fall program of the XXIX edition includes stops in 19 regions for a total of 89 cities. At this stage, the total number of sites that will be opened will reach 800 monuments. Looking at the Heritage Community in Sardinia data for the 29th edition, it is expected that, again for this edition, more than 200,000 visitors will benefit from the opening of these 800 monuments, thanks to the support of more than 89 municipalities, 212 associations, 107 educational institutions and as many as 19,000 volunteers.
To fully understand the impact of the event, a detailed report on the 2024 edition, based on data provided by Eager S.r.l. - Tourism Connected, analyzed the behavior and preferences of participants through a monitored sample.
In the analyzed sample, there were 20,767 unique visitors monitored. The composition of this group shows a clear predominance of residents, making up 85 percent of the total. Domestic tourists accounted for 5 percent, while foreign tourists stood at 10 percent. Among domestic visitors, most came from Latium (28 percent) and Lombardy (26 percent). As for foreign visitors, Germany led the way with 39 percent, followed by France (28 percent) and Switzerland (12 percent).
Analyzing the age group, it can be seen that the most represented group is 35-44 years old, making up 33 percent of visitors. The groups immediately following are 25-34 years old (22 percent) and 45-54 years old (20 percent). From the perspective of stated spending capacity, 64% of users are in the middle range.
Behavioral analysis on the 20,767 unique users recorded a total of 62,301 visits. The data show that the event is experienced very locally: on average, each user visited 1.1 municipalities. This value, although slightly lower than in previous years, reflects a trend where the vast majority of visitors focus on their own locality or a neighboring municipality.
Mobility within the event is characterized by an absolute predominance of walking. As many as 93 percent of visitors moved predominantly on foot, underscoring how the event encourages slow and close exploration. The time slot of highest attendance and preference is concentrated in the afternoon, between 4:00 pm and 6:00 pm.
In terms of the pace of the visit, the average duration recorded for a single visit to a monument was 14 minutes and 24 seconds. On average, each user visited 3 different sites. The distribution of visits among monument categories reflects both supply and individual preferences, as well as accessibility: religious monuments accounted for 30 percent of visits, followed by historic buildings with 27 percent. Archaeological sites attracted 16 percent of visitors, while museums, parks and open spaces both stood at 11 percent.
An interesting fact concerns parks and open spaces: although they accounted for only 11 percent of direct visits during the event, in one-third of the municipalities there was indirect promotion of nature areas not officially included in the circuit, which nevertheless received attention.
Monumenti Aperti is not only a cultural and social event, but also an economic engine for the host territories. The overall economic impact is measured on three levels.
At Level 1, the direct economic impact, which considers only the expenditure made during the days of the event in the participating municipality (consumptions, overnight stays, purchases), is estimated at € 363,771. This figure has significantly increased compared to previous editions. The average expenditure per visitor has stabilized at € 17.51, marking a slight increase over the previous year. It should be noted that 95 percent of the monitored users made direct expenditures during the event. The distribution of spending shows that bars intercept the largest share, at 51 percent, followed by restaurants and agritourisms (12 percent).
The event also generates an indirect impact through the flow of spending to various economic activities, including in neighboring municipalities, not limited only to the participating centers. Larger, tourist-oriented municipalities benefited from higher spending, partly due to a higher concentration of tourists and visitors with a high propensity to spend.
At Level 2, the economic impact extends to “returning users,” including the value generated by visitors who decide to return to the area after learning about it through the event. Visitors who return in the four months following the event make up 14.4 percent of the sample monitored. This phenomenon is growing compared to 2023 and results in a significant secondary economic impact, with a 15.1 percent increase over the direct impact. This secondary impact added €54,841 to the estimated expenditure, generated by 2,990 return visitors, with an average expenditure for them of €18.34. The preferred locations for these repeat visits are parks and open spaces (48 percent) and archaeological sites (25 percent).
Considering the Overall Impact(Level 3), which adopts an extended and hypothetical perspective by tracking long-term effects (e.g., a visitor who might recommend by word of mouth the destination to friends, influencing future purchases, or might buy local products online in the following months), the estimate rises to over €1 million, to be precise €1,020,021.
Monumenti Aperti also acts as a promotional tool. In cities, interest expressed online translates almost entirely into physical participation: 91 percent of in-app views convert to actual visits. Although in smaller municipalities the immediate conversion is lower (10 percent), these same municipalities benefit from a more complex positive dynamic in the medium term, being chosen by return visitors in the following weeks.
Finally, the event aims to promote active citizenship and the education of future generations. The organizational network, coordinated by Imago Mundi, which has managed the project since 1999, consists of a specialized team that includes journalists, archaeologists, art historians, agronomists, and tour guides. The event continues to consolidate its national vocation, preparing the ground for the historic milestone of 2026, when it will celebrate its 30th anniversary.
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| The numbers of Monumenti Aperti: more than 200,000 attendees and a million-euro impact |
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