Tourism in San Marino

San Marino is located on the Italian peninsula and consequently experiences the same weather patterns as the Italian state. San Marino has a Mediterranean climate of hot, dry summers and wet winters.[5] However, as it is located in the vicinity of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines the climate is often more harsh, with very hot, especially humid summers and very cold winters.[5]

The commercial tourism sector in the Republic of San Marino originates primarily from the early nineteenth century onwards.[6] Prior to the infrastructure improvements of the nineteenth century, the region never aroused great interest for a number of reasons. These included the fact that the state was quite impoverished and lacked the infrastructure to develop accessible connections with Italy.[6] During the late nineteenth century, the microstate embarked on a process of modernisation through the restructuring of the City of San Marino’s historic centre.[6] This was marked by the construction of a new seat of government (Italian: Palazzo Pubblico) that was inaugurated in 1894.[6] Although the construction caused a fiscal strain on the Republic, the Palazzo Pubblico remains a major tourist attraction within the microstate.

The rates of tourists gradually increased in the successive years, facilitated by improvements to transportation and infrastructure in San Marino during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.[7] The tourism industry in the region developed in great part following World War II, as the Italian economic “boom” brought developments to infrastructure that allowed for increased commercial tourism.[8]

The main tourist attractions in the most popular destination in the country, the City of San Marino, and the rest of the nation are:

The Palazzo Pubblico at daytime

The Fortress of Guaita, San Marino

In recent years, tourism to the region of San Marino has increased exponentially. San Marino recently experienced a 5.6% rise in tourists visiting the republic, with an increase from 1,888,000 tourists in 2015 to 2,000,000 in 2016.[12] The primary visitors to the microstate come from the nation surrounding it; Italy. In 2018, tourism from Italy held the majority of the tourism market at 66.84%, a decrease of 3.16% from 2017.[12]

In 2015, 37% of tourists to the region visited for leisure and holiday-making, while 38% visited for personal purposes.[12] The remaining 25% of visitors travelled for the purpose of business.[12] Although data from 2014 to 2018 conveys that all visitors to the republic arrived on land (via roads/driving), this is because San Marino is inaccessible to any other mode of transport.[12] Between 2017 and 2018, the average overnight stay in a commercial hotel or equivalent increased from 1.69 to 1.81 nights.[12]

The economic impact of tourism on San Marino is visible through the significant increase in infrastructure amenable to commercial tourism. From 2015 to 2018, the number of hotels and equivalent accommodation increased from 35 to 43 establishments.[12] In 2014, the available capacity of beds per 1,000 inhabitants peaked at 47.1.[12]

Employment in the commercial tourism industry has remained steady at 3,500 employed individuals from 2014 to 2018.[12] Within the industry, a recorded 700 are employed in accommodation services for hotels, while travel agencies and reservation services employ approximately 100 people.[12] The majority work in miscellaneous tourism sectors, with the figure standing at 2,500.[12]

The Sammarinese cuisine boasts strong similarities to Italian cuisine, particularly that of the regions it borders; Le Marche and Emilia-Romagna.[13] There are a number of traditional dishes that attract visitors to the microstate. The Christmas cake of honey, nuts and dried fruit, known as bustrengo in San Marino, draws visitors to the region for festive celebrations.[14] The dessert the region is most renowned for is named the ‘torta tre monti’ (or ‘cake of the three towers’).[14] This traditional Sammarinese cake is made from thin layers of wafer held together by a hazelnut paste and covered in dark chocolate fondant.[14] The name of the cake derives from the three towers of Monte Titano (Guaita, Cesta and Montale) which are depicted on the flag of the microstate.[14]

In terms of savoury dishes, the Sammarinesi are known for their traditional northeastern Apennine fare of roast rabbit with fennel, piadina (a chickpea flour flatbread)

A traditional chickpea flour piadina served with salad and tomatoes, a common meal in northern Italy.

and ‘nidi di rondine’ (a handmade pasta with a name meaning ‘swallow’s nests’).[15] The region upholds a tradition of manufacturing cheese, a major facet of northern Italian cuisine adopted from its neighbours.[16] Much like the bordering region of Emilia-Romagna, pasta and meat dishes play a significant role in Sammarinese cuisine.[16] Typical savoury dishes of this category include tagliatelle, lasagna, ravioli, pasta e ceci (chickpea soup), passatelli in brodo (dumplings in broth) and cotoletta alla bolognese (cutlets bolognese style).[17] Locally produced wine is also a major part of Sammarinese cuisine. San Marino has produced wine locally for nearly two thousand years, through a unique aging process in the caves of the Apennine ranges which allows the wine to mature at an ideal temperature.[16]

A typical tobacco shop in San Marino.[18]

The primary language spoken in the Republic of San Marino is Italian. Common second languages of citizens include English, French, and Sammarinese (the local dialect, a distant relative of the Romagnol dialect).[19]

Tourists are drawn to San Marino for its promise of tax-free shopping.[20] The microstate features many stores offering luxury products, such as jewellery, perfume, and clothing.[20] Handmade leather goods (including bags, shoes, and wallets) are also popular purchases due to the many artisan leather goods available for purchase without the 20% VAT imposed in the principality. Other items popular with visiting tourists include local wine and cigarettes.[20]

The government of San Marino intends to promote further tourism to the microstate through the Republic of San Marino’s Economic Development Agency Chamber of Commerce.[22] The primary objectives of the agency are to support the Tourist Office and the Ministry of Tourism in order to attract tourists and manage incoming tourist flows, and also to further pursue diplomatic networks and consular connections, in order to develop a profile for the state of San Marino as a unique destination renowned for hospitality, history and landscape.[22]

The Ministry of Tourism in San Marino is reforming its tourism strategy in order to increase the microstate’s rate of foreign visitors. This reformed strategy is being implemented through the development of the Internationalization Division within San Marino’s Chamber of Commerce.[22] This division seeks to attract arrivals to the region based on three categories; visit San Marino, study in San Marino, and invest in San Marino.[22] The diversification of San Marino’s Ministry of Tourism comes as a result of their newly implemented marketing of a “culture of "barrier-free" hospitality… offering tailor-made services according to needs.”[22]

The San Marino Ministry of Tourism has further expanded its capacity for tourists through the development of the ‘Republic of San Marino Conventions & Visitors Bureau’.[23] The establishment of the bureau as a directory for services available in the region has occurred to further promote tourism to San Marino by encouraging the conduct of business in the microstate.[23]

The current slogan for tourism in San Marino is as follows; “Imagining It Is Not Enough. Come and experience it.”[24] The new campaign is being implemented to further revenue from tourism, as currently San Marino is the least visited microstate in Europe.[16]

Basilica of San Marino, where the relics of San Marino's patron, Saint Marinus, are held.

San Marino attracts tourists at all times of the year. The principality holds many ceremonies intended to display the millenary history of San Marino as well as its religious heritage.

For example, each year on the 3rd of September, San Marino celebrates the Feast of Saint Marinus (the founder of the Republic) with mass at the Basilica of Saint Marinus.[25] This is followed by a procession throughout the city in which the relics of Saint Marinus are carried.[26] The procession is succeeded by the famous “Palio delle Balestre Gradi” (“crossbow competition”) and a concert by the San Marino military band with a firework display.[26]

Once a year, the world's smallest Republic revives its history when it turns into a theatrical spectacle of the Medieval Days festival. Every July, San Marino entices people within its ancient walls to experience the microstate's centuries-old stories in its medieval village.[27]

Another annual celebration in San Marino is the Catholic religious festivity of the Corpus Domini, held on June 11 each year.[28] This festivity begins with mass at the Basilica of Saint Marinus, followed by a procession around Piazza della Liberta accompanied by the military band.[28]

Additionally, the San Marino and Rimini Coast Motorcycle Grand Prix is an annual event that occurs each September, the first having taken place in 1980.[29]

• Economy of San Marino

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for San Marino.

• State Board of Tourism website