Once Pope Francis officially declared this spring that 2025 would be a Holy Year, Rome pressed the frenzy button.
With the opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve 2024, the city will unveil its monumental facelift ahead of the celebrations. Taking advantage of the event – a jubilee festivity traditionally held by the Catholic Church every quarter of a century – Rome has pooled billions of euros in state and European funds to overhaul tourist sites, transport hubs, parks, and streets.
Visiting Rome nowadays is like entering a huge construction site. “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” but the Eternal City doesn’t have the time anymore, as only a few weeks remain.
The breathtaking Piazza Navona, one of the city’s most famous squares, is currently undergoing restoration, and the fountains have been turned off and covered with scaffoldings.
The waterless Trevi Fountain, one of Rome’s busiest monuments, is still under renovation. Those of you who have visited the monument in the past won’t be able to enjoy it like before. According to the draft plans, visits to the fountain would require a reservation, with fixed time slots and a limited number of people allowed to access the steps around it, and maybe a symbolic fee.
The Vatican expects up to 32 million tourists to descend on the Italian capital for the 2025 Jubilee. But even without the Holy See’s special celebration – and regardless of many major attractions not being available to tourists to enjoy – Rome is still packed with visitors.
Iconic sites overcrowded
Queues to the Coliseum and the Vatican City are enormous. These sites, unfortunately, have turned into selfie-taking arenas and are crowded, costly, and utterly devoid of charm. They have been cheapened in the age of mass tourism and tour groups. The days when I would be able to enter those two colossal attractions spontaneously with no pre-booking or standing in lines are long gone.
One doesn’t even need to be a Catholic to be attracted to Caput Mundi, the “Capital of the World.” Israelis visit Rome by the numbers and they are seen everywhere.
“Most Israelis have visited Rome before and they are interested in new attractions,” says Natan Hamawi, a Jerusalem-born entrepreneur who runs rewarding gastronomy walking tours in the historic areas under the “Rome’s Roads” name.
“Gastronomy became a major factor to the Israeli tourists, and the combination of the history of the Jews and the Romans together with the relatively short flight are the main reasons for the significant frequent re-visits,” he says.
Fifty-five-year-old Hagay Saar from Kfar Saba has lived in Rome for the last 26 years and he gives tours to Israelis under his “Unique Rome” brand in comfortable electric club carts, in addition to walking tours.
“The tour buses phenomenon is history. With the evolving technology, Israelis prefer focused tours on different topics,” he says as he drives his golf cart on the bumpy streets and takes me to observation points of the city that I didn’t know existed.
Joyful times. Obviously, with the heavy traffic, the construction work, and the crowds, walking or sitting in an intimate golf buggy is a pleasant surprise.
The hospitality industry in Rome is excited towards the Year of Jubilee and the Israeli-based Fattal/Leonardo brand has already made a significant move into the city. Minutes away from the central train station, the first company’s hotel was inaugurated three years ago.
Leonardo Boutique Hotel Rome Termini is elegant and modern and offers a tranquil and relaxing experience. The location is royal, and this boutique accommodation is a cool place that embodies Italy’s renowned fashion heritage and contemporary design – gleaming glass, light wood, striking lighting, and an elegant chic atmosphere. There are 81 rooms in this Leonardo and they are comfortable with good sleeping quality.
Veteran experienced hotelier Rafi Carmon is the country general manager for Leonardo/Fattal Hotels Group in Italy, France, and Hungary. He revealed the brand’s significant developments in Rome while taking me to the Master Trevi inauguration ceremony, which was within walking distance of the iconic fountain. A prime location.
Master Trevi, a series of apartment hotels by the Fattal Group in Europe and Israel now in its sixth year, is a promising product managed by Yuval Fattal. The city’s 27 apartments are impressive and contain a digital entrance and services, located within a private beautiful garden.
“The 2025 Jubilee will have a similar effect to the Olympics that put Paris strongly on the map and will certainly contribute to a tourism boom here,” says Carmon. “We are all set with a new additional 80-room boutique hotel and a restaurant in the Monti area, not far from the Colosseum, which will be open shortly. In July we will inaugurate our Rome flagship hotel, the 320-room NYX with a €100-million investment by the attractive Piazza del Popolo,” he says.
No doubt that pilgrims visiting Rome are not potential customers of the Fattal-Leonardo brand. But Carmon and his colleagues are well aware of the overall potential in this never-ending city in 2025.
The proverb “All roads lead to Rome” was quipped in the medieval period. It is even more relevant today.
The writer is the Travel Flash Tips publisher and was a guest of Leonardo Italy.