ITOpen Glocal
Open Glocal
Territory

Tourism that doesn’t consume the city.

Bologna has never been this visited. That is good news, on one condition: that the value stays with the people who live in the city and keep it alive.

Bologna’s Two Towers seen from below
The numbers
1,455,589tourist arrivals in the Municipality of Bologna from January to August 2025 (+7.6% on 2024)
61%of arrivals in the Municipality over the same period were international
4,785Airbnb listings in the city in December 2024, 76.6% of them entire apartments
1,733of those in the Santo Stefano district alone, in the heart of the historic centre

In 2025 Bologna overtook Rimini as Emilia-Romagna’s top destination by number of arrivals. Sources at the bottom of the page.

What overtourism is
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) describes overtourism as the impact of tourism on a destination, or parts of it, that excessively harms residents’ perceived quality of life or the quality of visitors’ experiences.

The key lies in “parts of it”. The problem is rarely the total number of visitors: it is their concentration in the same places, at the same hours, along the same routes. The same streets turn into shop windows, rents rise, historic shops give way to whatever sells to tourists.

Institutions are moving too. In 2025 the Emilia-Romagna Region proposed new planning rules for short-term rentals, and the Municipality of Bologna announced limits on new change-of-use permits in the historic centre.

Piazza Maggiore from above, with people walking
What we do

We start from the centre. With care.

Glocal covers Bologna’s historic centre: it is where almost every visitor arrives and where the pressure is strongest. That is exactly why it is the right place to choose better.

  1. 01

    Independents first

    We favour trattorias, workshops, artisans and venues run by people who live in the city over chains and replicable formats.

  2. 02

    A few places, verified

    A short, checked selection, instead of the endless list that pushes everyone towards the same top ten.

  3. 03

    Practical information

    Up-to-date hours, clear addresses and tips for getting around on foot or by public transport, without weighing on the neighbourhood.

  4. 04

    Everything in one place

    Less time searching across ten sources means fewer people all ending up in the same spot “because everyone says so”.

For visitors

A short code for travellers.

  • Under the porticoes are someone’s front doors: keep your voice down at night.
  • Shop in the centre’s workshops and markets, not only where people take photos.
  • Walk, cycle or take the bus: much of the historic centre is a limited-traffic zone.
  • Look down the side streets too: the centre doesn’t end at Piazza Maggiore.
  • Ask your host. That’s what they’re there for too.

Sources

  1. Bologna Welcome — Turismo a Bologna, primi otto mesi 2025 (dati Servizio Statistica Regione Emilia-Romagna)
  2. Confcommercio Ascom Bologna — Turismo, record di arrivi: Bologna supera Rimini (Osservatorio Ires Emilia-Romagna / Filcams Cgil)
  3. il Resto del Carlino — Airbnb a Bologna: quasi 5.000 alloggi, la maggioranza nel centro storico (dati Inside Airbnb, dicembre 2024)
  4. Conforti Immobiliare — Nuove regole sugli affitti brevi: la stretta dell’Emilia-Romagna e di Bologna (novembre 2025)
  5. UNWTO — ‘Overtourism’? Understanding and Managing Urban Tourism Growth beyond Perceptions (2018)
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