NOVA GORICA – An influx of more than 53,000 additional visitors and tourists between February and May 2025, estimated as a +67% increase in overnight stays by foreign visitors and +13% compared to Italian overnight stays, with significant growth from Austria (+54%), the Netherlands (+40%) and France (+36%). These are only the very first incoming data, useful for outlining the impact and the “European Capital of Culture effect” on the cross-border area of Gorizia and Nova Gorica: monitoring carried out by the University of Udine’s Geomatics Laboratory, presented by Salvatore Amaduzzi, Associate Professor of Geotechnologies and Innovation at the University of Udine, during the conference held today – Tuesday, 2 December – to assess the initial impacts of the Capital of Culture and to envision next steps for the future of the cross-border area. The event was promoted by the EGTC GO (European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation Gorizia–Nova Gorica–Šempeter-Vrtojba), during the week leading up to the closing ceremony of the first cross-border European Capital of Culture shared between Nova Gorica and Gorizia, on Friday, 5 December (6:30 pm, Transalpina Square).

After institutional greetings from representatives of cross-border institutions – Vesna Humar, State Secretary at the Office of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia for Slovenes Abroad; Samo Turel, Mayor of Nova Gorica; Paolo Petiziol, President of EGTC GO; Mija Lorbek, Director of Javni Zavod GO! 2025; Michela Cecotti, President of the International Institute of Sociology of Gorizia (ISIG); and Elisabetta Feresin from the Venezia Giulia Chamber of Commerce – the conference, held in the new EPIC cross-border cultural space, opened with a panel dedicated to impact data and future perspectives. The session was coordinated and introduced by Ezio Benedetti, EGTC GO’s European programming officer, with contributions from Giulio Selvazzo, curator of the GO! 2025 Borderless Wireless platform; Guido Guerzoni from Bocconi University; Salvatore Amaduzzi from the University of Udine; and Lorenzo De Sabbata from the International Institute of Sociology of Gorizia. It provided a window into early impacts and future visions because, as EGTC GO President Paolo Petiziol emphasized, “we will not be resting after 31 December: what we have done in 2025 must continue, because we are an example for Europe. We managed to create a climate of cross-border synergy, and Brussels has noticed it.”

“We learned a lot over the course of the year,” noted Ezio Benedetti on behalf of EGTC GO. “It was a tremendous opportunity to explore both the potential and the critical issues of cross-border cooperation. We are only now beginning to evaluate the first impact data – pieces of a mosaic that we will complete in the coming months. The process is ongoing, but the first data already reveal a structural change in the area of the first cross-border European Capital of Culture.”

A first report on the media impact of GO! 2025, highlighting the excellent coverage received from international news outlets, was presented by Federica Manaigo, consultant for the EGTC GO communications and events team.

Regarding economic impact, academic Salvatore Amaduzzi presented the preliminary results of the University of Udine’s study: “The estimates that allow us to evaluate an initial assessment of cultural tourism incoming in recent months,” he explained, “use an approach based on GeoBigData, which describe tourism through measurable evidence. The analysis integrates three main sources: mobile phone data, credit card transactions, and online reviews. The aim is to monitor how many visitors arrived, where they came from, how long they stayed, how much they spent, and how they rated the experience. Combining quantitative dimensions (presence, mobility, spending) and qualitative ones (experience and perception), the analysis confirms that major events can generate widespread territorial impacts that can be further improved through systematic, continuous monitoring.”

Italian tourists from outside the region increased by 26%, while visitors from Friuli Venezia Giulia (outside the province of Gorizia) increased by 20%. The average hotel-stay transaction was €133, and the average restaurant transaction €39. The research also examined public approval through sentiment analysis of online reviews: satisfaction was stable and very high, around 86%, peaking at 90%. Hospitality scored 84.6%, dining and nightlife 88.7%, and cultural and natural offerings 88.7%.

Regarding economic impact: the average credit card transaction was €25, with peaks of €66 for Croatian tourists, €43 for Slovenians, and €36 for Austrians. Spending was distributed across lodging, restaurants, retail, and services.

A key tool for cultural and tourism incoming during GO! 2025 proved to be the Borderless Wireless platform, developed by EGTC GO as the official digital infrastructure of GO! 2025. “More than that: day after day, the platform has evolved into a true cross-border tourism-cultural observatory,” noted Romina Kocina, Director of EGTC GO. It integrated cultural, informational, and digital content through a participatory design process involving 20 stakeholders, becoming an ever-expanding catalog that gathered more than 2,960 events, over 550 news items, 116 projects, 2,590 accommodation providers, and 180 food-service listings. “An infrastructure serving citizens, tourists, and operators planning their visit to GO! 2025.”

“And as 2025 draws to a close,” added Giulio Selvazzo, project manager of the Borderless Wireless platform, “we are about to record 3 million digital views of the online content, which combines advanced cultural information with a service-oriented planning tool for citizens, tourists, and operators, also available as a multilingual web app with a collaborative content-contribution system. The dedicated forms generate a continuous flow of contributions that feed the platform, confirming the strong involvement of residents in the Borderless Area. Borderless Wireless acts simultaneously as an observatory, participatory tool, and shared-governance laboratory: its ability to aggregate content, engage stakeholders, and build a unified narrative makes it a model of territorial digitalization that can be exported to other European contexts, and one of the strongest and most innovative legacies of GO! 2025.”

A preview of the impact-assessment study on Nova Gorica–Gorizia European Capital of Culture 2025 was presented by Guido Guerzoni of Bocconi University: “In line with EU guidelines,” he explained, “the impact study, which will conclude in December 2026, analyzes four areas of impact: economic, employment, and fiscal; social; cultural; and communication-related. The study also includes an analysis of historical time series and a dedicated questionnaire in three languages. Early analyses on a sample of about 2,000 respondents reveal a slight predominance of Italian visitors, with an average age of around 41. They attended GO! events mostly for day trips, as couples or with friends. The ratio of excursionists (1,592) to tourists (352) of 5 to 1 is very positive, and the average stay was 2.54 days. Early analysis of historical series shows growth during the Capital year in terms of arrivals and overnight stays, as well as in real-estate prices, sales, and rental markets. Standing out is the boom in apartment and B&B accommodation – +149% compared to +8% for hotel facilities.”

But GO! 2025 does not end on 5 December: in the coming weeks, an important legacy for the future of cross-border populations will be activated. This was previewed by Lorenzo De Sabbata of ISIG, the International Institute of Sociology of Gorizia, which is involved in a project that will allow not only monitoring but also influencing and prolonging social and cultural impacts on the ground. “From February to June 2026,” De Sabbata explained, “the Cross-Border Citizens’ Assembly will be launched: a tool to directly engage citizens, operators, and stakeholders in shaping the future by defining priorities, policies, and strengthening cross-border cooperation models that will drive development beyond 2025. Through this deliberative process, participants will discuss what worked, what didn’t, and what cultural, social, and relational legacies the European Capital of Culture is leaving behind. In this way, the impact of GO! 2025 can go beyond culture: becoming an opportunity to rethink how we live, grow, and plan the territory together.”

In the afternoon, starting at 2 p.m., the conference featured testimonies from First-Level Stakeholders: businesses, institutions, and cultural operators from both countries involved in developing the borderless Capital. These included PromoTurismo FVG, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Gorizia, Confcommercio Gorizia, the Venezia Giulia Chamber of Commerce Trieste–Gorizia, Fondazione Aquileia, the Culture and Sport Directorate of the Autonomous Region Friuli Venezia Giulia, Let’sGO – City of Gorizia, Euradria 24–26 EaSI Programme – European Union, Fundacija Poti miru v Posočju, the Regional Development Agency of Karst and Brkini, the Brda Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sport Board, the Nova Gorica and Vipava Valley Tourism Board, Soča Valley Tourism, Idrija Tourism Board, Miren–Kostanjevica Tourism Board, DMO Turismo Benečija, Fondazione Palazzo Coronini Cronberg, G.I.T. Grado Impianti Turistici S.p.A., and the Goriški muzej Kromberk – Nova Gorica.

Among the local testimonies presented at the conference were Antica Contea & Reservoir Dogs, creators of the Borderless Beer and longtime collaborators in organizing joint events in the cross-border area; as well as Maks Café in Nova Gorica and Qudulibri in Gorizia, new cultural presences in the cross-border territory.

Below you can download the slides which were presented by the following speakers: prof. Salvatore Amaduzzi, Lorenzo De Sabbata and Giulio Selvazzo.