Cultural tourism in Italy, here are the places most reviewed and loved by the public

Italian cultural tourism between trends and strengths, between novelties and the influence of social media. At the tenth edition of TourismA - Archaeology and Cultural Tourism Exhibition, held in Florence at the end of February, a review was made of tourist movements that have ’culture’ as a travel motivation, the mainstay of this sector in Italy. Millions of digital traces published online from January to December 2023 regarding 876 thousand points of tourist interest in our country were analyzed. Hence, the web analysis to discover that the ranking of the top 10 most reviewed attractions in Italy in 2023 “is a clear representation of what are the routes most traveled by international tourists in the peninsula,” where Rome dominates the top 10 with 5 attractions, along with Venice with 3, followed by Verona, Florence and Caserta. The Colosseum pulls far ahead of the other destinations.

The Report, like last year, has been prepared by The Data Appeal Company - Almawave Group and presented by its ceo Mirko Lalli. offering a state of the art on the phenomenon that is booming all over the world, taking advantage of the monitoring capabilities that new technologies allow by going into the details of the liking, in addition to the numbers of the quantity, starting from the analysis of data from the Istat report “Cultural tourism in Italy: integrated territorial data analysis.”

“In our country,” explains Mirko Lalli, “this form of tourism is configured as a fundamental pillar of the tourism offer, attracting visitors from all over the world, looking for an authentic immersion in the country’s rich historical, artistic and scenic offer. The motivations that drive tourists to Italy are varied: 44.8% visit cities, towns and villages in search of unique atmospheres; 43% are attracted by natural heritage; 27% focus on historical and archaeological sites; 17% explore typical local markets; 16.5 percent pay attention to museum heritage; 15 percent attend shows, cultural, folk or religious events; and 11 percent focus on gastronomic tours or itineraries that allow them to taste typical products.”

The analysis framework shows that the number of online content posted by people in 2023 regarding cultural venues stands at 21.3 million, up from 21.5 million in 2022. the day when tourists felt the need to externalize their comments while on vacation is August bank vacation with more than 558,000 online reviews related to cultural attractions and an excellent result on the index of liking the place visited (Sentiment Score) of 85.2 out of 100.

The satisfaction rating and the share of positive reviews among the analyzed content on our cultural attractions is 92/100 and exceeds that of other travel sectors: venues and catering 86.16, accommodation 83.23, short term rentals 86.16, entertainment 86.46. Relative Sentiment-that is, the level of satisfaction and appreciation detected through semantic analysis-is also high: over 80/100.

“In 2024,” Lalli argues, “Italy continues to stand out as a preferred destination for cultural tourism, despite the challenges posed by global economic dynamics and changes in traveler behavior. The sector’s resilience and capacity for innovation is reflected in the evolution of the way visitors experience Italian culture, with a continued interest that goes beyond the difficulties of the moment. According to our analysis, although there is a slight decline in the volume of online content related to cultural venues, enthusiasm for Italian cultural attractions remains undiminished, as evidenced by the spike in online reviews and very high qualitative perception (Sentiment) values.”

Undisputed at the top of the list of the 10 most reviewed attractions in Italy in 2023 is the Eternal City with 5 positions: Colosseum at No. 1, Pantheon at No. 2, Piazza Navona at No. 4, Spanish Steps at No. 6, Monument to Victor Emmanuel II at No. 10. Venice follows with the Rialto Bridge in 3rd place and St. Mark’s Square in 5th. Seventh position for the Arena in Verona, Piazza del Duomo in Florence in 8th and the Royal Palace of Caserta in 9th. A ranking that basically mirrors those of the most visited destinations.

If we go to see which museums and archaeological areas are the most reviewed and commented positively on the web, we find the Roman Forum, the Archaeological Park of Herculaneum, the Sansevero Chapel Museum, as is to be expected, but also the Museum of theAutomobile Museum in Turin and the Museum of Science in Trento, in fourth and fifth position, which outperform in Sentiment expressed on social media (the research index is called “Popularity” by Data Appeal, and combines various aspects of the experience, such as perceived quality and volume of content), two museums far more visited numerically: the Reggia di Caserta (6th place) and the Uffizi (9th). In addition to the Uffizi, Florence also counts two other city staples in the top10: the Pitti Palace and the Accademia Gallery. Also of note is another Tuscan attraction that ranks seventh, which is the Tarot Garden in Capalbio. Eclectic and surprising, it could not fail to arouse reactions to be posted on visitors’ profiles.

On balance, it is Rome alone that dominates the web with about 60 percent of all reviews of the top ten most reviewed cultural attractions. Suffice it to say that the Colosseum has more than 84 thousand reviews with a Sentiment Score of 94.5. But with the rank of 96.5 it is surpassed in liking by Piazza Duomo in Florence, albeit with a smaller number of reviews, 28.7 thousand. Writing most about their vacation feeling we have our compatriots with 35.9% of the total, we then find Germans (7.1%), French (5.9%), British (4.7%) and Spanish with 4.3%.

Cultural tourism in Italy, here are the places most reviewed and loved by the public

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