According to official data, Italy has been for decades one of the most visited countries in the world. With approximately 44 million tourists a year, the Bel Paese is the fourth highest tourist earner in the world.
The success lies in its beautiful cities, works of art, landscape, food and wine as well as miles of unique Mediterranean beaches.
A trend that continues, and is eventually reaffirmed, every summer, when the Country is able to showcase its 5.000 miles of admirable seacoast.
And this year summer season, that is just around the corner, has been preceded by a good news. According to the International Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), this year, the number of Italian beaches that have gained the prestigious Blue Flag award for clean water and pristine sands have increased compared to last year.
Blue Flag has worked with the United Nations’ Environment Program and analyzed beaches and marinas worldwide since 1987 to monitor quality and cleanliness. The agency looks at sustainable development of beaches and marinas through strict criteria dealing with Water Quality, Environmental Education and Information, Environmental Management, and Safety and Other Services.
Italy’s Spiaggia dei Conigli (Rabbit Beach) was crowned the number one beach in the world by TripAdvisor. Situated on the small island of Lampedusa, the Spiaggia dei Conigli is an unspoiled nature reserve that is only accessible by boat and one of few places in the Mediterranean where loggerhead sea turtles go to lay their eggs.
Italy’s Spiaggia dei Conigli (Rabbit Beach) was crowned the number one beach in the world by TripAdvisor. Situated on the small island of Lampedusa, the Spiaggia dei Conigli is an unspoiled nature reserve that is only accessible by boat and one of few places in the Mediterranean where loggerhead sea turtles go to lay their eggs.
Italian seaside resorts awarded a Blue Flag in 2013 were 135, four more than 2012, totaling 248 top beaches. Almost all of last year’s Blue Flag beaches were confirmed this year while nine new entries included resorts in Carrara, Tuscany, Francavilla al Mare in Abruzzo and a lake beach resort in Levico Terme, in the north-eastern Trentino-Alto Adige region.
Going down to details, the northwest coastal region of Liguria has gained the title for the highest number of awarded beaches in Italy, 20, two more than last year, followed by the central Marche region with 18 and Tuscany with 17, one more than last year.
Among Italian islands, Sardinia, famous worldwide for its crystalline waters and luxury Emerald Coast resorts, received an added Blue Flag for a total of seven while Sicily lost one, for a total of four Blue Flag beaches.
Earlier this year, the most famous international travel website, TripAdvisor, conducted a survey that ended up awarding, as world’s most beautiful beach, a well known spot in Sicily, beating sand-and-sea destinations in the Caribbean and Australia.
“Spiaggia dei Conigli, or Rabbit Beach, at Lampedusa in Sicily boasts white sand and a crystal-clear sea in an unspoiled setting near a nature reserve where each spring, sea turtles lay their eggs”, said TripAdvisor.
Ranked below Lampedusa were such beaches as Grace Bay, Providenciales, in the Turks and Caicos islands; Whitehaven Beach in Australia; and Brazil’s Baia do Sancho.
Italy also ranks in TripAdvisor’s European-specific best beach ratings with La Pelosa di Stintino, in Sardegna, ranked as eighth best.
When it comes to water purity, a health ministry study last year said the best waters for bathing in Italy are in Sardinia, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Emilia-Romagna, Basilicata and Sicily.
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