Pompeii offers multi-entrance bracelet

(ANSA) - Pompeii, May 4 - Pompeii is the first archaeological site in Italy to activate an "entrance/exit bracelet", an electronic device made of special paper and worn on the wrist that allows visitors to enter the site up to three times on the same day.
    On Tuesday, 35 tourists tried out the bracelets for the first time, and the number of tourists requesting the bracelets is expected to increase daily as news of their usage spreads.
    The bracelets can be requested at the amphitheatre entrance ticket office, where a special reader is installed for the bracelets.
    The opportunity to leave and re-enter up to three times gives visitors a chance to enjoy the site in intervals with walks around the external areas of the site, shopping, getting a bite to eat, or sightseeing at places like the Shrine of the Virgin of the Rosary.
    Once the visitor has used up the three entrances, it deactivates, and it is no longer active the following day.
    The bracelet is made of magnetised cardstock using radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology, which prevents counterfeiting or trading bracelets with other visitors.
    The hope is that the new bracelet will help the local tourist economy in the city of Pompeii, which has always suffered from a type of quick-visit tourism from which it can't seem to break free.
    Gianluca Machetti, president of the Pompeii branch of retailers' association Confesercenti, is skeptical about the bracelet's potential to boost sales.
    "Our real problem is the management of the tourist influx," Machetti said.
    "The majority of visitors to the archaeological site are groups of cruise passengers who are off-loaded by the thousands at Porta Marina and from there, they leave again after two hours at the site. They don't have time for a restaurant or for shopping, and they don't visit the city, they just see its name on a sign on the highway. The most that the bracelet can do is permit a family that has already organised a similar day on their own, that is, a visit to the site and then a local restaurant".
    Business owners in Pompeii would eventually like to see the bracelet's use extended over a two-day period.
    "That way, just as they already do with theme parks, tour operators could organise tourism packages for groups that include an overnight stay in the area. But, in the meantime, the local administration could do something, offering a reduced-price bus ticket for those who plan to eat in a local restaurant. Or, even forcing tour buses to park in a place other than the site entrance, so that the tour operators would have to take groups through the city centre. There needs to be more dialogue with the local economic structure. But it seems as if we aren't able to make anyone understand this need, to ensure everyone necessary growth".