Why have I never heard of Soriano?
| Title: | Why have I never heard of Soriano? | |||||||
| Category: | Expectations & Planning for Our Soriano Vacations | |||||||
| Author: | Michael Kovnick | Updated: | Jan 30, 2019 | Views: | 3,986 | |||
| Tags: | soriano Tuscany off the beaten path | |||||||
Italy is a rather small country that gets millions and millions of tourists all year, but the tourists generally go pretty much to the same places all the time.
It is all about mass marketing.
We have met countless people that go to Italy every year, but have never ventured beyond the cities and areas that target their marketing at foreign tourists.
Everyone knows Tuscany, and they go to San Gimignano, Florence, and Siena. Everyone knows Rome, Venice, The Amalfi Coast, and Cinque Terre. These are all beautiful places, but no more beautiful than thousands of other less famous places in Italy.
The thing is, that all of these well-known places have become victims of their popularity. They became famous because there was a certain feeling that drew people there. The friendly shopkeepers, the beautiful scenery, the unique shopping, the amazing little restaurants, etc. People fell in love with the charm. But take millions of tourists and drop them anywhere in the world, and an industry erects to service the lowest common denominator. That charming little restaurant becomes a tourist trap that serves sub-par food en-masse to people that don't know any better. The charming little hotel is replaced by a Hilton. The friendly little shopkeeper starts selling snow globes and plastic statues while ripping off unsuspecting tourists.
All the while, because the tourism industry has such a huge impact, the cost of living for locals skyrockets, so the little vegetable stand cannot afford his rent anymore. He has to move to a different city or town, and in place of his store, another tourist-targeted t-shirt shop or tourist trap goes in its place.
Before you know it, the real Italy that drew people in the first place is gone, but the marketing continues. The masses of tourists keep coming because they don't know the difference. And they are happy because it is still beautiful. They just cannot compare it to what it once was. All the while, the kind of people that used to go to these places when they were the real thing... the people that found them in the first place by pushing their boundaries... well, they have moved on. They now go to the places you have never heard of. Places like Soriano nel Cimino.
With the exception of a few small companies like ours, Soriano has no international marketing. It is mostly a destination for Italians. Thousands of Romans and Tuscans come to Soriano to get away from it all.. to rediscover the charm lost where they live. Think about that for a moment. If the people that live in the places you dream of visiting are escaping those places to visit a place like Soriano, what does THAT mean?
In fact, many of those Italian tourists are afraid that Soriano will one day become too popular among foreign tourists. But for now, it is still real.