9697 Daily Telegraph -Unsung Italy

This was the title of a long article in last Saturday's Property Supplement covering areas which are well known to this Forum but not so well known to the Great British Public.Hopefully this link will work
[url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/main.jhtml?xml=/property/2008/05/31/pitaly131.xml]Property overseas: Unsung Italy - Telegraph[/url]

Category
Property Sales/Rental Advice

I see they are again talking up Viterbo & bolsena/Vico in light of the planned airport expansion.

[quote]All eyes are on Viterbo in northern Lazio, as the area has been chosen for Rome's third international airport. Regular flights from the UK will boost the local economy and open up the surrounding countryside. The airport will serve both Rome and northern Lazio, bridging the gap between Rome and southern Umbria and Tuscany.
[/quote]

I wonder just how much benefit an area actually gets from the advent of a low cost airport - I can see that there will be work available during construction and directly in running the airport & transport etc thereafter; I can see that, where the flights are at unsociable hours, hotels & agritourismi in the surrounding area will get an increase in overnight stays. I agree that there will be some influx of foreigners buying real estate in the cachement area.

Much as I'd love to though, I'm still skeptical that all the people booking RA/Easyjet flights to "Romes 3rd airport" when it opens will decide to spend time in and around Viterbo rather than just jump on the first train to Termini. I've been travelling through Ciampino regularly for 6 years both before and after buying a property & I can't say I've ever explored any part of the surrounding area simply because of its proximity to the airport. I fly there, then head for where I'm going. Is the benefit to a region of getting an airport really in increased footfall and tourist expenditure through it's towns & villages, or really just in better infrastructure and the chance to tax foreign home ownership?

No-one will benifit least of all those who rush to buy in an area just because a 'low-cost' airport opens there.

In 10 years time they'll all be shut and they'll probably plough up the runway to grow potatoes ! Just how long people can continue to believe the 'low-cost' bubble isnt going to burst? And how.

Grow potatoes? In Italy! What's wrong with spaghetti trees?

when i bought thi house the previous owner said about the garden
"pianta patate, racolta pietri!",
you plant potatoes and harvest stones
so far he is absolutely right!

I read this at the weekend and thought it was a surprisingly good article highlighting areas that, yes, we may all be familiar with but so many people in Britain aren't. Were the houses and prices they highlighted typical or one offs?
Re Viterbo airport, assuming the low cost carriers continue, you don't think it's going to help those with properties in southern Umbria/northern Lazio? Occurred to me that even I'd rather saunter down the scenic Cassia to pick visitors up than leg it out to Pisa.