Italian Riviera and French Riviera: comparative research from a little-known report of 1926

Abstract

In 1926, Francesco Stroppa, the Prefectural Commissioner of the Municipality of Sanremo, presented a comparative study of tourism in the two Rivieras to the “5th Italian Congress of Tourist, Health and Holiday Resorts” held in Montecatini (province of Pistoia). His study analysed the total income allocated for tourism development in Nice and Sanremo. The “capital” of the Côte d’Azur had a budget more than two hundred times that of the City of Flowers. Consequently, Stroppa predicted that within a few years tourism in the French Riviera would overtake that on the Italian Riviera. Almost a century later, it can be seen that this alarmist prediction did not occur, but despite this, Stroppa’s study – rich in quantitative data and qualitative information about the fears and hopes of that time – constitutes an interesting starting point for an always-current theme.