We just stepped off the plane and as we ready for the 45 minute bus ride from Catania's Fontanarossa Airport to President Hotel Splendid in Taormina and I already feel like I have a taste of what it is like to live in Sicily. Our bus driver started yelling and screaming for what it seemed like no particular reason at no no particular person. Southern Italians and Sicilians especially are known for their temper, passion, and straightforward attitude. What made it worse that the bus driver was speaking the Sicilian dialect which sounds nothing like standard Italian. If the driver was speaking Italian, I would have been able to understand what he was yelling about and reassured some of our weary travelers that everything is fine. It turns out that I am one of the two people on this trip that can speak and understand Italian so it looks like I will have to do a lot of translating for the other fourteen.
We finally arrive in Taormina and I am in awe of my surroundings. I feel like I am living in the most picturesque painting you will ever see. We are living in a small mountainous medieval town with cobblestone streets in the middle of ruins from Ancient Greece and Rome. Not to mention the ominous active volcano Mt. Etna is constantly in our view as well as the beautiful Ionian Sea and incredible views of Calabria and the Italian mainland. One observation that could not be missed when entering Taormina that it has become a popular tourist destination. It has often been described as “Fantasy Sicily” because it is perfect in every way which makes it attractable to tourists. For someone like me who wants to get the real Italian experience by living with the locals this is not the place to get it. English is spoken everywhere, almost as much as Italian. However, I can't really complain. I feel like I am living in a dream.
The evidence of Taormina being a popular tourist destination is supported by Tiziana Cuccia's article on tourism seasonality. By using data to back up her position, Cuccia believes that while the usual suspects such as weather, holidays, and school vacations are to blame for seasonal tourism, there are certain cultural aspects that play a role. By using Sicily as a case study, Cuccia concludes that tourist destinations that have a greater cultural aspect are less prone to suffer from seasonal toursim. Destinations that have a more evenly distributed cultural offerings are less likely to suffer from tourism doldrums during the less than optimal seasons. The destinations that were studied in Sicily are categoried as either a sun and sea destination or cultural destination. Taormina is unique as it is both a sun and sea destination as well as a cultural destination. The numbers show Taormina as the largest tourist destination all season averaging almost eighty-two thousand visitors a month with the peak month of August more than doubling that number. Another interesting statistic about Taormina is that seventy-three percent of all visitors are foreign. These numbers show that even though Taormina has some cultural sights it is effected greatly by seasonality. The destinations that are only cultural are not effected as much and the numbers don't have such a discrepency. Cuccia believes that Taormina is not being promoted enough as a cultural destination and that is why it suffers from seasonality. The Ancient Greek Theater is one of the cornerstones of Taormina and should be presented that way. Taormina is such a perfect year round destination and really has the potential to be just that.
Reference: Cuccia, Tiziana, “Tourism seasonality in cultural destinations: Empirical evidence from Sicily.” Tourism Management, Volume 32, Issue 3, June 2011, Pages 589-595. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261517710000920)
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| Piazza IX Aprile. The main square in Taormina |
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| The sun rising from Calabria as seen from the roof of our hotel. |
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