Wandering Italians. Travel: from social habit to identity

Writing a history of tourism inevitably entails a focus onto Italy, widely recognized as one of the chief destination of tourists before tourism was even born. It was only in the 18th century, with the onset of the Grand Tour tradition, that travel started to be, properly speaking, a modern phenomenon. Later on, the industrial revolution and the revolution in communications radically changed the very idea of travel. Then another major historical development—the social revolution brought about by the introduction of paid vacation—made it possible for people to devote their leisure time to tourism, although mass tourism did not develop until the postwar economic boom. But just what is the nature of tourism in our time, and how did it develop? And what motivates Italians to travel? A dialogue between the presidents of the Touring Club, Italy’s largest and oldest tourist association, and of SWG, one of the country’s leading market research and surveying companies.