Tourism, with high beach prices in July, attendance is down 15%.

"Don't tell us it's a price problem, because it's not. If there have been increases, they've been around 3 or 4%, in line with inflation." Antonio Capacchione, president of the Italian Beach Resort Workers' Union , a member of Fipe Confcommercio, doesn't mince his words and tries to defend the industry, contradicting many consumer associations. In reality, the high cost of beach resorts is making itself felt, with prices now reaching 60 euros a day in Salento and other locations.

The economic data for July compared to June 2025 shows a 3.7% increase in prices but, according to Massimiliano Dona of Consumatori.it , «what we are experiencing is still an optical effect of the surge of two summers ago which caused price lists to increase by 16%».

"At my beach in Margherita di Savoia (Barletta-Andria-Trani, ed.)," continues Capacchione, the president of the beach resorts, "an umbrella with two deckchairs and a chair for four, with access to all services, including parking and the option to bring your own food, costs 25 euros a day. Yet during the week, out of 12 rows, I only occupied three . Of course, on weekends, it's packed." Regardless of the high prices, the data from the end of July are quite telling. According to the beach resorts, the drop in attendance, from Tuscany to Puglia, was at least 15% after an otherwise promising June and a May when rain caused several difficulties.

According to Capacchione, the issue is essentially one: "Families have less money to spend, so they're saving on the first thing they can cut: vacations. Of course, geopolitical issues and the expectation of a worsening economy due to tariffs aren't helping either. This is a situation we share with the Germans, who are also penalized by this economic downturn, all to the benefit of the new middle classes, like those in Croatia, Poland, and the Czech Republic, who are increasing their spending power."

Then, concludes the president of the beach resorts, if we want to attack our category "as a national sport, like we do with taxi drivers and street vendors, then go ahead, but that's not the point."