Negative Impacts of Branding the Cultural Landscape of Civita Di Bagnoregio

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Branding the Cultural Landscape of Civita Di Bagnoregio (Italy) and Its Positive Impacts (Here)

The settlements or dwellings of Civita di Bagnoregio are exposed to a customization approach as most activities are focused only on the economic impact without considering the conservation and sustainability of the cultural assets or the main local identity intentionally or practically. Moreover, the marketing statement - adopted by the municipality - considers the heritage site as a semi-customized product [1]. The site faces three main threats: Lack of Community Conservation; Over Tourist Flow; and other human-induced impacts.

While there are many restoration projects in Civita di Bagnoregio by Bagnoregio municipality, the site sees a great gap with the factor of cultural integrity due to the abandonment of the traditional agrarian lifestyle (... and) uncontrolled tourism’s dramatic alteration of Civita’s social and cultural fabric (World Monuments Fund, 2008). The Indigenous population was reduced to only 10-15 inhabitants who are mostly over 100 years old. At the same time, the current community, who are living, owning or investing in these historic structures, are not originally from Civita di Bagnoregio or at least, have not grown up there. Thus, the site is losing its cultural assets, especially the true cultural and social values. (Cercato et al., 2020)

Unfortunately, there are no sustainable methods that contribute to sharing or transmitting inherited cultural knowledge and raising awareness among the new community members or visitors. There is no strong unification, as everything including livelihoods and occupations is private for inhabitants. For instance, based on direct observation, an old man restored some ruins by himself and started offering the bathroom as a public service for visitors for 0.50 cents per person. Although as per the positive reviews and references by (AMOITALY, 2015) [2] and (Abbott, 2015) [3] for the traditional food at Civita di Bagnoregio, the restaurants do not mostly offer the traditional food of Civita di Bagnoregio (exclusively the restaurants: Cantina di Ariana, AlmaCivita [4] and Bruschetteria Antico Frantoio). Also, at the small museum (Antica Civita Museo), Ms. Felice Rochhi created a private museum composed of a collection of agricultural instruments which she inherited. Upon purchasing a ticket (one euro per person), she showed an object from her collection, which dates back to the Etruscan era.

Attili and Sordilli (2015) admit that there is a negative impact of tourism on Civita’s demographic structure. In a town where the resident population amounts to only seven people, these numbers are pretty shocking. They configure a double identity for a town that is depopulated and hyper-populated at the same time: a hospice during winter, and a tourist village during summer.

Although Civita faces this demographical weakness, I note that Mr. Profili, Mr. Bigiotti and Mr. Angeloni were very motivated to share the operational model of Civita di Bagnoregio as a branded heritage site and as an ideal case of marketing methods and strategies that other sites around Italy could apply. Furthermore, recognizing the current situation of Orvieto as a city (Umbria), Mr. Stefano Massari [5] studied the approach implemented in Civita di Bagnoregio and highlighted a significant role played by the community in a marketing strategy. He states that Orvieto, unlike Civita, is by no means a unique city. It is a beautiful city, but like there are many. What makes the difference is the ability to sell an intangible asset which is the lifestyle. Additionally, Mr. Massari encouraged the urban branding model as a strategy to attract visitors, both national and international. He also emphasized that the demographic degradation across social and technological innovations must pause. Mr. Vittorio Tarparelli [6] further reinforces Massari’s recommendations by referring to the demographic emergency and adding the thought that geography is very important as is demography. In other words, it is essential to know how to describe a territory and attract people based on a lifestyle, but it is also important that they continue to there are people who lead that lifestyle. (Orvieto News, 2020)

According to the official statistics, six years ago, Civita was visited by 42.000 tourists; in 2014, there was a stunning rise in the number of visitors, reaching up to 450.000; in particularly crowded periods, the small town hosted up to 13.000 people per day; during the Easter weekend of 2015, Civita had more tourists than the Coliseum (Attili & Sordilli, 2015). Civita, as a tourist attraction, received more than 600,000 visitors in 2016 and one million in 2019 (Cercato et al., 2020), Until today, there is a long queue of visitors every day.

An interview with Mr. Profili and Mr. Bigiotti on 14 September 2020 with Chinese TV indicated the growth in the visitors’ number in 2020. Just in January and February 2020, there were around 30 thousand people who visited Civita di Bagnoregio before the Covid-19 pandemic and its travel restrictions. The interview ended with an important statement, referring to their approach and how for them structuring everything in the best way is not the most important thing stating that this is why it is now very important to structure everything in the best possible way and change the face of our tourism by extending the stay. (Corriere di Viterbo, 2020) Also, in a previous interview on 5 February 2020, they mentioned that the focus was on the actions taken to transform Civita di Bagnoregio from a little-known village of Tuscia into a tourist destination for one million visitors a year. (Tuscia Web - non riceve alcun finanziamento pubblico (Citizen Journal), 2020; Cappelli, 2020)

Attili and Sordilli (2015) assert that a great number of visitors come from Asian countries, especially China, Korea, and Japan. Mr. Pomi outlined during an interview with Xinhua (2018) that in 2017, Civita was visited by 850,000 tourists, out of which, Chinese accounted for 18 % to 20 %. Moreover, a direct observation made by me (2021) between 15 August and 30 September 2021 outlined that while the visitors nowadays are mostly Italian, there is a significant percentage of Asian nationalities e.g. Chinese and Japanese, followed by a lower number of visitors from Germany, France, Netherlands, USA, India, and Thailand. There are no visitors from the Middle East, the Arab world or Africa, probably due to the Covid-19 travel restrictions.

Considering the limited carrying capacity of the urban layout, there is no specific approach to managing the visitors’ number. I found an imbalance in the number of visitors, as some places are completely filled while other places are empty. For example, the church is one of the less visited places or areas on the site. There is no urban furniture for visitors, so they sit on the external terraces constructed from the ruins of the historical buildings. While the infrastructure might be maintained, mass tourism has put high pressure on the conservation condition and led to other human-induced impacts (anthropologically and ethnographically). Mr. Luca Costantini [7] expressed his worries about the growing number of visitors, especially after inscribing the site in the UNESCO World Heritage list. He highlighted that the growing influx of tourists is creating more pressure on the environment and threatening the town’s survival (McKenna, 2018).

Another negative impact of mass tourism has been borne by the local communities as the visitors wish to explore everything and occupy convenient spaces, which allow for the normal life of the local community, all for the sake of curiosity as to what is inside these buildings or spaces. The visitors come just to walk and enjoy some moments with the surrounding natural landscapes and green areas. I felt the lack of an emotional rapport between the visitors and the site’s components. They just like to take photos especially at the panorama of the poet’s garden (the natural view of the Calanchi Valley) and at the beginning of the bridge which frames the entire site.

No booklet, pamphlet or itinerary is available to understand the history and cultural background of Civita di Bangonregio [8], just a mobile application has been developed regarding the available cultural assets [9]. I observed that not many visitors use this application to explore the history and architecture of Civita di Bagnoregio probably because the mobile network is very weak at the site. Also, I failed to notice tour guides, who would generally be able to clarify the history of the site. Pre-booked, the tour guides take their groups just on the main road/backbone of Civita. In general, the visitors don't seem interested in what the guides have to say or share through the assigned audio device. Tour guides do not give unique information about the buildings/spaces or the old practices that define the city. There is a need to create eye contact and promote interactive communication that transfers the core message of the heritage site and contributes to creating a long-term memory for the visitor.

Last but not least, the cultural identity of Civita di Bagnoregio faces the risk of demise. Focusing on marketing and brand management, the majority of publicity, TV programs, movies, or documentaries focus only on the geological nature of Civita di Bagnoregio and do not show its rich and long historical timeline since the Etruscan era. Consequently, the locals and the visitors seem to have increasingly limited cultural knowledge about Civita’s cultural and natural assets.

The official budgets (2017-2019) indicate that the outflow, of the site revenues is probably higher than its inflow, especially on the weekends and the festivals. The amounts and percentages of the revenues indicate that the required budget for conserving and restoring the site attributes is probably higher than the income of the site. As a result, the site, with a long-term conservation perspective, should develop diverse types of tools to mitigate these pressures.

Reviewing the impacts of climate change, I noted a high number of cars, microbuses and motorbikes which can access the depths of Bagnoregio. Hence, their carbon emissions already have, and will continue to contribute to the changing weather and intensify the impact of the heavy rain and clouds on the historical material such as clay layers that could be eroded or deteriorated, especially in harsh winters. Additionally, Civita di Bagnoregio faces dire environmental risks, including the risk of seismic hazards, fog and smog, heavy clouds during foggy winter days, … etc.

There is a large part of Civita and its cliff edges were destroyed as a result of the frequent earthquakes [10], which occurred often at the end of the medieval ages. Attili and Sordilli (2015) address that more than two-thirds of the original size of the whole town has crumbled in the surrounding valleys. The 1695 earthquake (11 June 1695), which mainly affected Bagnoregio, led to the death of over 30 inhabitants of Civita, and about 61 injured from a total of 3000 inhabitants. On 30 October 2016, there was another earthquake in Norcia (6.6 Richter) which damaged the bell tower of San Donato church. Additionally, many other seismic hazard events that have occurred in central Italy (2016-2017) and damaged the bell tower again, in addition to some parts of the church, creating permanent cracks in the residential dwellings or settlements. (Cercato et al., 2020)

Footnotes:

[1] ?Such consideration came to our mind while attending the public presentation of the promotional video about Civita that the Lazio Region has presented at the Expo 2015, the Universal Exposition currently held in Milan. Recorded by a drone, emphasized by an epic soundtrack and without a narrating voice-over, this video displays the town’s historic buildings, the piazza, and the surrounding landscape, in a fluctuating image sequence where the viewer is alternatively brought to approach the hill from the sky, to overlook the roofs and the gardens, and then to sink into the streets, to float around walls and flowers, and then again to fly away towards the sky and the valley. Notably, the human presences detected are mainly tourists, recorded while strolling along stone alleys, taking pictures, resting in the piazza, or simply staring at the town. In this captivating video no landslides, no falling roads, and no destructions appear just ?beauty?, as the Regional President Nicola Zingaretti called it, the beauty of a clean and ordered mediaeval town, ?frozen in time?, where the sight of the drone (or maybe that of a tourist?) hastily moves on exclusively in the search of some charming corners to be captured. In this institutional representation, the ongoing process of the “death” of Civita is visually concealed by the portrait of an attractive, picturesque and consumerist venue.? (Attili & Sordilli, 2015)

[2] ?Civita is famous for its olive oil (...) Also around Civita, the land is suitable for the cultivation of olives that produce little but precious olive oil. There are two restaurants in town and both of them feature grilled bruschetta, salsiccia (sausage) and bistecca (steak) in the fireplace. Please taste such a speciality with plenty of olive oil. The rich aroma of local extra virgin olive oil spreads into your mouth.?

[3] ?Make sure to have some bruschetta bread toasted in the fire, rubbed with garlic and drizzled with local olive oil and tomatoes?

[4] Family roots come back to the 16th century (Poggioli, 2017)

[5] Entrepreneur and Officine Moderne Coworking Founder

[6] Gal Trasimeno-Orvietano Director

[7] Co-director of a Geological and Landslides Museum (Civita di Bagnoregio)

[8] Regarding an empirical study (Di Pietro et al., 2012; 2015) on an Italian sample of museum visitors in Lazio, the research team identifies the factors that influence the visitors’ decision-making process (e.g. the site image, word of mouth and the past experiences, the advertisements) and motivation (e.g. the cultural enrichment, the sense of the place, and the events and exhibitions) to explore the heritage destinations as well as other factors of selecting their heritage attraction (e.g. the heritage interpretation tools, the comfortable environment, the ticket price, the opening time). In addition, they consider the subside experiences, either emotional/nostalgic or practical experiences, that the visitors collect during their tour (e.g. Learning, involvement or participation, identification with cultural significance, and entertainment). Thus, they found out that the main factor in attracting the target segmentation is to maximize the level of curiosity that the visitor seeks usually to explore the heritage site/museum more than one time. Respectively, time by time, there is a strong emotional rapport that will be automatically generated.

[9] They celebrated the picturesque, the tradition, and the past but also the death that has become in itself a spectacular object offered to the voyeur gaze of the tourists. (Attili & Sordilli, 2015)

[10] The restoration and maintenance project investigates Civita’s tuff/clay material and its consequential erosion Since the end of the Roman era. Now, it is regularly reinvestigated through the regular restoration project of Bagnoregio municipality in cooperation with the Geological and Landslides Museum as an advisory body.

Bibliography:

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