01-05-2025
Overtourism has ruined the Amalfi Coast – and Puglia could be next
Hiking with a guide in the hills behind Amalfi in October 2024, I felt the full effect of overtourism in the popular coastal town as we emerged into the sunshine. Even in shoulder season, the crowds heaved around the town's cathedral, lines snaked out of every gelato shop and packed-out tour buses wheezed along the roads.
'It's chaotically busy, even at this time of year,' affirmed my guide Gianluca Paolillo, who runs hiking tours from Ravello and Scala. 'In the summer, the popular trails like the Path of the Gods and the Amalfi Lemon Trail have too many people on them. It can take hours to complete just a short distance and the tourists are not careful. Every year we have people falling from the cliffs while trying to take the perfect picture.'
The giant, gnarly sfusato lemons that grow on the hillsides here have become a symbol of the coastline. As famous here as Mickey Mouse is in Florida. Every souvenir shop sells trinkets and T-shirts with them on, ceramics are all decorated with sunshine yellow patterns, and the gelato shops' most-sold flavour is a sweet-sour lemon sorbet.
And then there are the £50 'Amalfi Lemon Experience' tours, offered on sites like Get Your Guide. This Disney-like version of a stroll amongst the lemon groves often includes a cooking class and a set of pictures of the purchaser posing next to a giant citrus with the sparkling Mediterranean Sea in the background.
'Everything on the coast is geared to tourists these days. Locals can't afford to spend time here any more,' mused Gianluca.
Amalfi, Tuscany, Rome, Sicily, Venice and the Italian Lakes all suffer from overtourism, but there were always areas of Italy that remained blissfully unscathed – like Puglia. The heel of the Italian boot, this sun-baked region is home to Caribbean-like beaches, gastronomic agroturismo (farm stay) properties and, until recently, fewer international tourists. But some locals believe this is changing.
'When I first moved to London 12 years ago, nobody had heard of Puglia. Fast forward 12 years and people have either been or they have a holiday booked,' says Alessandra Tasca, head of wine at OMA restaurant in London, who grew up in Monopoli, a coastal town in northern Puglia. 'The change has been rapid and Puglia has not handled it well. My friends living there are concerned about the future.'
This summer, the first direct flight from the US to Puglia will launch, with low-cost Italian airline Neos making the destination more accessible than ever to visitors from across the pond. The inaugural flight will depart New York on June 3, flying into Puglia's capital, Bari. The flights will be seasonal, operating twice weekly until October 2025, and this new route is presenting opportunities anew for tour operators and accommodation specialists.
'Over the last few years, Puglia has been one of the fastest growing tourist destinations in Europe,' says Livia Angelini of luxury operator Scott Dunn. 'We've had a steady increase of approximately 16 per cent year-on-year in enquiries for the region.'
In 2024, more than 10 million passengers flew in and out of Puglia's three airports – Bari, Brindisi and Foggia – an increase of 10 per cent compared to the year before, and, as a result, easyJet and Ryanair have increased their flight offering to the region for 2025 to meet demand.
'Puglia is a fast-growing market for us,' confirms Oliver Bell, co-founder of UK-based Oliver's Travels. 'Historically, Tuscany, Umbria and Sicily have been popular with the UK market, while for the US market it's The Lakes and the Amalfi Coast. While these destinations still hold their ground, Puglia has climbed to the second most-booked region for 2025, tying with the Italian Lakes – a remarkable leap from fifth last year, thanks to growing awareness and better air connectivity.'
When I visited in 2017, Puglia still felt quite unknown. There were only a handful of luxury hotels that catered to an international crowd, one of the first of which was Masseria Trapana, run by Australian hotelier Rob Trapana.
'I'd been going to Tuscany for years and had been hoping to open a hotel there,' he told me. 'But I kept hearing my Italian friends mumbling about Puglia – the food, the beaches, the wide-open space, the history. I just had to go see it for myself.
'I bought the masseria (farm buildings) in 2014 and opened it to the public in 2016. At the time things here weren't geared up for tourism but that has changed in the last few years.
Shop owners, for example, have learned English because they know they need to cater to tourists – particularly Americans – who ask a lot of questions and expect the answers to be in English.
'I don't think we have an overtourism problem here in the same way as the Amalfi Coast does, but in the peak summer months, towns like Lecce – which used to be off the beaten path – can get extremely busy.'
A few things have contributed to Puglia's strong growth as a tourist destination. Firstly, a tourism campaign during the pandemic, whereby the region's remoteness and foodie excellence were celebrated by posters on the London Underground network.
Secondly, in 2024, the G7 summit was held at Borgo Egnazia, a purpose-built mega hotel just outside Bari. The hotel is family owned and operated by Aldo Melpignano, founder and CEO of Egnazia Ospitalità Italiana.
It is a sprawling, gorgeous paean to Puglian rural life, albeit built from scratch to cater to international tastes.
'Almost 20 years ago, the region was still largely unknown to international travellers,' says Melpignano. 'When we began working on Borgo Egnazia, we didn't want to replicate anything that already existed. The idea was to create something truly original, a place deeply connected to the land, where we could tell the story of this unique corner of Italy. We believed in Puglia's potential.'
Marcelo Martinez, co-owner of architecture and design firm Studio Trotter, who built the gorgeously rustic Masseria Moroseta and Casa Soleto, both in southern Puglia, believes that the region will not become another Amalfi Coast.
'Amalfi is unique in that it is tiny and the roads are not designed for so many people. There is still so much of Puglia – especially in the south where we are located – that feels untouched. Of course Polignano a Mare, Ostuni, Monopoli and Alberobello – where the famous trulli houses are located – have lost a bit of their charm because of tourism, but when friends visit us we like to take them to places that are off the beaten track.'
However, speaking about her hometown of Monopoli, just 10 minute's drive from Bari, where the new flight from JFK will fly into, Alessandra Tasca believes that the effects of overtourism are already being felt.
'I am here in Puglia now and I am telling you that people are concerned. Monopoly and Polignano a Mare are like ghost towns in the winter because families are pushed out in favour of accommodation for tourists – just like what's happened in Venice.
'The identity of the town is not alive anymore. Business owners here were surprised by the explosion in tourist numbers. They saw opportunities for short-term gain and things weren't managed well. I know lots of people who are concerned.
'At the moment it's too early to say what the effect of more tourists will bring to our region but in places like Rome, Tuscany, Venice and Amalfi it has become unbearable.'
