On one hand, we celebrate major successes like the widespread promotion of Italy’s beaches through the Blue Flag awards. On the other, we face a pressing issue: overtourism, and the urgent need to protect sites of cultural and environmental value from the kind of overcrowding that not only renders them unsustainable, but risks destroying them entirely.

Venice, the pink sand grains of the Sardinian islet of Budelli, and the famous Scala dei Turchi in Sicily are perhaps the most striking examples of the delicate balance that governs Italy’s most beautiful places – gems that are not equipped to handle an excessive flow of visitors. Yet anyone who has stood in the blazing August sun waiting in line to enter the Uffizi in Florence or the Vatican Museums knows firsthand how overwhelming and difficult it is to manage large-scale tourism.