EDITORIAL
Besieged by kings and stars by Flavia Pankiewicz
S
ummer is behind us and it’s time to weigh up the situation. For Puglia, from the tourism point of view the results are excellent. The most prestigious recognition came from National Geographic, which rates Puglia “Best Value Destination 2016” at world level. “Puglia boasts the best of southern Italy: the pace, the traditions, the beauty. Unconquered”. A great repeat performance since it received the same gong in 2014.
The publisher Lonely Planet, the tourism bible, confirms: “Its main cities, like Bari, Lecce and Trani, are much smaller and less overrun by tourists than Milan and Venice, but you can taste top-quality wines that are not at all expensive, in a region that is the third biggest wine producer and has no less than thirty different indigenous grape varieties”.
The growing number of tourists and show-biz personalities have made Puglia a place to return to every summer. Vasco Rossi comes down to splendid Castellaneta Marina every year and states, “I’m in love with Puglia”. Gianni Morandi continues to spend his summer vacation at Gallipoli’s Lido Pizzo, an enchanting natural destination with a bay of crystal-clear water, white dunes and a green cloak of Mediterranean scrub. The same place has been chosen several times by the Belgian royals for their vacations, like this year when at the end of August the reigning couple, king Philip and queen Mathilde, came to the Gallipoli beach resort to celebrate the twenty-first birthday of Princess Luisa (daughter of Astrid of Belgium), with a party for 200 guests, including many aristocrats from all over Europe.
And then last July, Puglia saw the arrival of the great diva, Madonna. Savelletri, Ostuni, Alberobello, and then Salento, to Lecce, Cerrate and finally to Melpignano for a private dinner in a19th century villa. Keen to protect her privacy, she did not hesitate however to post pictures and comments on Instagram after every stop, starting from “Stairway to heaven”, citing Led Zepelin, on a picture of a superb staircase at Borgo Egnazia, the luxury resort at Savelletri, where the pop star had just arrived. And finally the photos in the Lecce Cathedral and at Cerrate with a: “So hard to say goodbye, Salento! Ti voglio bene!”
Borgo Egnazia, the magnificent resort at Savelletri where Madonna stayed, was awarded a “Best of the Best Award” this year in August, at Las Vegas, by Virtuoso, the international luxury travel network, as “Best Hotel of the Year”, during the annual “Virtuoso Travel Week”. This prize to the Melpignano family’s hotel is just the crowning achievement of a success story that includes hosting VIP weddings such as that of Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel, as well as Madonna’s recent stay. It originated in a far-sighted vision that led the family to invest in tourism twenty years ago, setting up resorts like Masseria San Domenico and the golf club of the same name as well as the unique resort at Borgo Egnazia.
The success of tourism in Puglia needs to be defended, stabilized and steered in the right direction by intelligent public and private decisions with a clear goal, including a serious policy of building up off-season tourism. It’s important that the tourism dream of “best value travel destination in the world” is not confined to just a handful of sunny weeks in summer.
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