Tourism Seasons on Lake Garda. From Elitist Winter to Crowded Summer, 1870–1970

Between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Lake Garda experienced an increasing integration into international tourist flows. Often thanks to people and capital coming from outside, tourism and its associated infrastructures offered new development opportunities for a region that was experiencing a substantial marginalization of its agricultural and manufacturing activities. This article examines the transformations undergone by Lake Garda during the period 1870–1970 by looking at the seasonal dynamics of its tourism growth. The objective is two-fold. First, to shed light on the impact of tourist flows on the times and rhythms of accommodation activity in order to better understand the assumptions and reasons behind the choices made by private operators and local institutions in the formulation of the regional tourism offer. Second, to highlight the significant features and changing trajectories of lake tourism in Italy.