Sicily Guide

In spite of the presence of the mafia, Sicily is one of the safest Italian regions. It might sound like an oxymoron to foreigners, but it does not surprise me that much. According to the ISTAT (Italian Institute of Statistics), Sicily registered one of the lowest crime rates in the country in the past few years.

Crimes every 100,000 people:
Sicily 3,481
North-West 4,770
Turin 6,823
Bologna 7,223

Pickpocketing every 100,000 people:
Palermo 124
Center Italy 446
Italian average 287

Stolen cars, robbed stores and apartments:
Palermo 2,152
Milan 3,780
Bologna 4,485
Rimini and province 5,761

Numbers talk clearly. Sicily is a safe destination. If you refrain from visiting Sicily because of safety concerns, keep in mind that there are more chances that something could happen to you in a big North American city. Publicity for Sicily is still pretty bad. The images of The Godfather are well impressed in people’s mind all around the world. But for once, some good news are coming out for Sicily too!

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Sicily has only four beaches awarded with the BLU FLAG by FEE (Foundation for Environmental Education): Catania, Fiumefreddo di Sicilia, Pozzallo, Menfi. This is the same number as last year. Tuscany leads with 15 and Liguria follows with 14. Sardinia has only one. It certainly makes you think when the two biggest Italian islands have only a few beaches in this prestigious ranking. Obviously, more needs to be done to have a clean sea.From the Fee-International web site:

The Blue Flag is a voluntary and exclusive eco-label awarded in 2006 to more than 3200 beaches and marinas in 36 countries across Europe, Morocco, South Africa, Canada, New Zealand and the Caribbean.

The Blue Flag works towards sustainable development at beaches and marinas through publicly awarding sites that meet strict criteria dealing with water quality, environmental education and information, environmental management, and safety and other services. A few of the issues covered in the criteria include cleanliness, provisions for waste and recycling, zoning of activities, and environmental education activities for a variety of people. The Programme has also recently started a voluntary scheme for private boat owners called the Individual Blue Flag, which boaters can fly if they have signed and agreed to follow an environmental code of conduct.

Since 1987 the number of beaches and marinas participating in the Programme has increased, despite toughening criteria. The criteria are updated as needed to keep abreast of new scientific findings, legislation, and generally to keep the campaign participants striving for ever better environmental quality.

A list of the most beautiful Sicilian beaches
More about International FEE
See the list of Bandiera Blu in Italy (Italian)

At its ninth edition, La Settimana della Cultura (The Week of Culture) has become a much anticipated event in Sicily. Museums and archeological sites are open to the public for free. Events are organized throughout the island. Every province participates to the initiative. On May 19, museums will stay open all night long!

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Sicily counts 1,068 hotels with 47,463 rooms and 102,176 beds. With about 4.3 million tourists arriving per year, Sicily has dramatically improved its hospitality offer in the last ten years. The average number of rooms (44 per hotel) places the region as the third in Italy for rooms available.

Numbers & percentages:
44 rooms per hotel
46% increase in number of beds for hotel
29% increase in number of hotels
34.5% of the hotels are luxury and deluxe

Sicilian cities with most hotel rooms:
1- Messina
2- Palermo
3- Catania
4- Trapani
5- Ragusa
6- Agrigento
7- Ragusa
8- Syracuse
9- Caltanissetta

Data provided by Federalberghi (Italian Association of Hotels)

I have been waiting for a couple of years to land at the new Catania Airport and finally this year it is going to happen for real! The new airport is called after the famous Sicilian composer Vincenzo Bellini.

Photo Gallery
Video Tour (Italian)

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