Empty beaches in August? "On the Riviera, business only happens on weekends."

Cesena, August 8, 2025 – Come on, there's room. It's August, the peak summer month par excellence, yet the beaches are far from sold out, hotel rooms are available everywhere , and there's a sense of a very subdued season.

All seaside resorts are suffering, with rare exceptions, the tourism crisis is palpable and evident, as are the seafronts which are anything but crowded and the parking spaces which are found everywhere.

From Monday to Thursday, as the old people say, "it's a deathbed", then on Friday you see a few more people and on Saturday and Sunday it's full work.

There are exceptions: tour operators are achieving the same numbers as last year, and some are even higher, but these are those with a high percentage of foreign guests, companies with a significant history, and businesses that have invested significantly in promotion.

For the rest, in the vast majority of beach resorts and accommodation facilities, the decline is notable.

It's not a problem for Cesenatico, Gatteo , or San Mauro Mare . The crisis is widespread, and in fact, some nearby coastal towns are faring worse.

Customers point the finger at beach prices and hotel room rates, but beach resorts and hoteliers defend themselves. The two wars in Ukraine and the Middle East are certainly also impacting tourism, as are many families who are forgoing medium-long vacations, and some even short ones , due to the loss of purchasing power in the face of rising food and energy costs.

Alfonso Maini, president of ADAC Federalberghi, the association that includes over 200 of Cesenatico's 300 accommodation facilities, sees a very complicated situation: "Public institutions and private individuals must reflect and address the problem. We at ADAC will do so shortly. We've been stressing the need to redevelop tourism on the Riviera for years, and now we're at a point of no return. Politicians and associations must work together to implement a redevelopment project for the destination and the product, including the accommodation facilities."

"I disagree with the rising prices of hotels and beach resorts as the cause of the decline," argues Maini, "because the Riviera is a more affordable destination than other parts of Italy. High labor costs, inflation, a rising cost of living, and mortgages: these are the real problems. We need to raise the bar everywhere, and quality comes at a cost. If we want to maintain the middle class and attract more affluent customers, we need to provide quality and service. The tourism industry has changed and is less loyal. Today, our guests want to see, learn, and have fulfilling experiences ; we need to work in this direction, and not just on the seaside. Room rates are more or less the same; in fact, the other day I received a newsletter from an entrepreneur who is selling a week of August 15th for two adults and two children for €1,700 all-inclusive. These prices are unheard of elsewhere."

"We ask public institutions," Maini concludes, "to incentivize airports and infrastructure, and to ensure the cleanliness of roads, sidewalks, and greenery. But we also need to incentivize hotel renovations and the creation of after-dinner entertainment venues . On the DMO side, we need to change pace, because it's the tool that can make a difference and enable us to discover new markets abroad, because Germany isn't the only one."