The balance of the 11.6 million also includes overnight stays and walkers, coming from all over Italy, from countries such as Germany, Spain, Switzerland, France and the United Kingdom, but also from the USA, China and India. This is an increase of about 40% compared to the same period in 2022. Important numbers that exceed the expectations declared by the two municipal administrations in the planning dossier, where a +20% increase in visitors was set as a target.

As far as overnight stays alone are concerned - the available data refers to the first three quarters of 2023 - the surveys show an increase of 41.7% compared to the same period in 2022. The numbers from the Tourist Infopoints in the two cities also confirm the increased influx of visitors to the facilities: in 2023, almost 164,700 admissions were recorded, with an average increase of 100% compared to 2019, to compare with the pre-Covid period.

Tourists and visitors showed particular appreciation for the cultural, museum and art offerings.

This area registered over 943,000 visitors, an increase of 92% compared to the same period in 2019. The theatre offer was also particularly popular: 331,513 tickets were sold in the two cities (252,348 in 2019). Now all eyes are on the closing ceremony and the cycle and pedestrian path that will unite the two cities, crossing 24 municipalities, for a total of 75 kilometres and an investment of EUR 6 million. The inauguration is scheduled for April.

Bergamo and Brescia 2023 pass the baton to Pesaro 2024. In the past few days, in Bergamo's Donizetti Theatre, the closing ceremony of the Italian Capital of Culture saw the two Lombardy cities, together, as the protagonists of the year that is drawing to a close. "It is truly a great emotion to be in this splendid place" Pesaro Mayor Matteo Ricci commented during his speech on the occasion, "and to have retraced with you these 12 extraordinary months. I have a long-standing friendship with Mayor Giorgio Gori; we constantly exchange views on the things to be done in our cities and for our country. Culture is a common 'battle', which we have decided to pursue with great determination together with Bergamo, Brescia and other Italian cities.

The year 2023 has certainly changed this territory, it has marked it, and from now on there will be even more attractive cultural realities for our country”. The challenge of the medium-sized cities of culture “In the next few years, at least 200-300 million new tourists are estimated in the world”, Ricci recalls, “strongly attracted by Italian beauty and culture. The problem is that the historical cities of art, i.e. Rome, Venice, Florence, are already overbooked. This is why we need a network of medium-sized cities, such as Pesaro, Mantua, Parma, Matera and Bergamo and Brescia themselves, to serve the country to increase its competitiveness and attractiveness”.

The mayor of Pesaro then presented the Pesaro2024 “Nature of culture” dossier, "at the centre is the theme of the fight against climate change and the rediscovery of a culture of Peace. It is no coincidence that the victory of Pesaro Italian Capital of Culture 2024, “was dedicated to the Ukrainian Kharkiv, like us Unesco Creative City of Music, under the bombs and almost completely destroyed. We think that in these moments, in which culture and tradition are rediscovered, we cannot look at what is happening around us”. The symbol of Pesaro2024 is the ginkgo biloba leaf, 'a tree that survived the Hiroshima bomb and managed to grow'.