Discover Calabria in Italy, where tourists are seen as a blessing, not a curse

Let's start with an exclusive story: "Italian City Wants More Tourists, Cruise Passengers." It's true that many people in Italy have had enough of the country's 22 million annual visitors, and its most celebrated city has banned cruise ships and charges tourists a daily tax, but in deepest Calabria, as in several other areas, overtourism is not a problem - quite the opposite.

The main square in Santa Severina, a few kilometres from the Ionian coast, is dotted with bars and cafes beneath the walls of a Norman fortress and the dome of a Byzantine church. There is a small ...