italian tourism

YOU would not know it from the English-language signs promising to serve passengers ``quckly'', but Naples' Capodichino airport is British-owned. In August, 70% of it was bought by BAA, a company that also runs, among other things, London's main airport, Heathrow. For the Italian south this is a symbol of hope. Finding an international firm of this calibre willing to invest there has greatly boosted its confidence. BAA, for its part, was attracted by the south's …

…around for an economic winner. Its best hope seems to be tourism. It may be hard to believe, but the tourist industry in Italy, and especially the south, is seriously underdeveloped. In 1996, the country had only 33m visitors from abroad, compared with Spain's 41m and France's 62m, despite its unrivalled range of tourist attractions (see chart 5). Politicians and businessmen were slow to catch on, but are now making the promotion of tourism a top priority.