A question to the Italians.

[The Lawspeaker]

Errr you are probably going to laugh but I was wondering. My uncle (who has travelled a lot through Italy) once told me that Italy's numero uno financial problem is the fact that they have so much monuments to pay the upkeep for and that it actually is a mixed blessing or better said a financial curse for the country.

Does Italy employ commercial activities around some of the monuments ? Would it pay off to restore and organise commercial activities around let's say Pompeii, The Terme di Caracalla or the Colosseo (they already have some cultural themes around it for that I have heard) ? Or to restore some of the thermae, sell them off to entrepreneurs and put them to commercial use as just that: luxurious thermae ? In order to make back at least some of the upkeep.

And could it be done to non-classical monuments as well: like turning some palaces into luxurious hotels or ..?

[Wildland]

When I was in Rome, I couldn't believe how much money they make on the Colosseum and the Vatican. Tourists flood there.

[San Galgano]

The Coliseum and many other monuments, such as leaning tower, Venice, Pompei and Ercolano, attract many tourists, they are a good source of income for Italy.

To be real i have never heard that they are a financial problem. Sure they need lot of maintenance but they produce more in term of money than they need.

As for the commercial activities, i know that in Rome it will be created a theme park explaining visitors of Rome the legions, the gladiators, the emperors, the wars and the life in ancient Rome but will be not a roman Disneyland, more like a cultural trip.

I think citizens of Rome would not be happy to see Rome rediculized to a mere attraction for people who search for an easy and superficial visit or for Starbucks or McDonalds.

The termes of Caracalla just like many other ruins would lose their fashion to me once reconstructed, just like if someone would try to rebuild the Hadrian wall, or the Pyramids.
Sure you can fix the problems but not rebuild them. Not to mention that to rebuild the terme of Caracalla and many other ruins you should take down 16th century buildings around too.

[Foxy]

No, they are not a problem, on the contrary, tourism helps very much Italian economy. Most tourists come here for cultural travels to see the monuments or for the natural beauties of Italy.
Anyway the tour of Italy is considered the final step for an high class education (in particular among Americans, Brits and Germans). You are not a real gentlement if you don't make the trip Venice-Milan-Florence-Rome-Neaples and possibly Sicily. :wink
The biggest economic problems of Italy are:
1) public debt;
2) taxes evasion.
The remain has more or less the same probs of the other European countries: the competition of China, economic crisis and so on...