Our lakes are not simply breathtaking views. They embody a much loved, living regional identity shared by both local people and tourists. Their international fame is such that they are called the Lombard ‘seas’ and there is no doubt that they are one of our best tourist identity cards. Think of Lake Como or our Lake Garda, style icons. But the story is a broader one, ranging from lake Iseo to Lake Idro, by way of lake Maggiore, the Varesotto lakes and the great Po River. Lombardy is a true ‘water region’ with unexplored infrastructure resources. The challenge today is promoting them without standardising them because they each have their own individual soul and tourist character. The lakes generate stable, non-seasonal tourism, and are a Lombardy-wide success story, with 55 million overnight stays in 2024, 75% of which were international tourists. This is testified to by their seasonality index which is 0.56 for Italy as a whole and 0.29 for Lombardy. This means that tourism is not dependent on weather or the holiday season, but lasts all year. And a great deal of this is down to the lakes, which remained a top destination in the summer of 2025, too.
We have reopened the region’s ‘water transport’ chapter with great dynamism, in conjunction with Piano Governativo della Navigazione Laghi, which set aside funding of €117 million for hybrid boats, digitalisation and infrastructural renovation. Lastly, with Lombardia Style we are promoting the region as an integrated but variegated experience. Water is the warp and weave of the area’s fabric. Como is not Garda, Iseo is not Maggiore. And it is precisely this diversity which is the area’s strength. This is the Lombardy that we are building with the water transport chain: fewer postcards, more systems. Because lakes and rivers are not just beauties to gaze at. They’re also functional routes. And when water is infrastructure beauty turns into service, a growing service for the community.
Barbara Mazzali,
Councillor for Tourism, Fashion, Design, Local Marketing and Large-Scale Events,
Lombardy Region
