Matera - Europe's Capital of Culture

I visited two years ago. It’s very charming, you can even stay at a hotel built in caves!

an ancient place to visit, but they don't want tourists

I read the article in the NYT this morning. Between getting the EU designation and being written up in the NYT, I assume they'll be inundated with tourists.

They already are inundated, in Matera at least--by tour buses. You can reach Matera by bus or train if driving is not an option for you. As is so often the case, small places cannot absorb mass tourism like large cities can. The rest of Basilicata remains little visited.

I chose the South of Italy tour for May in part because I want to go to Matera. I have also been intrigued by the trulli in Alberobello since researching the area several years ago. Now I am even more excited about visiting.

but they don't want tourists

They have been living on tourism for 20 years now. The caves were turned into the first boutique hotels in the late 80s.

Why posting things that are not true and that can be verified thanks to a 5 minutes search on Google? What's the point? I'm not Writing about to the OP, I'm wondering about the NYT that lets smart politicians give wrong impressions to tourists.

Matera is running the risk of being the next Alberobello, a tourist trap with higher prices, but they perfectly know that without tourists the caves area would turn into a ghost town again.

Interesting information in the replies. How odd? Perhaps this property is being marketed by a for-profit organization?

Visited last September, stayed in a cave apt. Intriguing place. Once out of the main squares, relatively calm.

I didn't get the feeling that the mayor meant that they didn't want tourists at all as much as they don't want the hit-and-run type? Say, the tourist who doesn't contribute much to the economy and doesn't really care about the history and culture of the place. They're more interested in visitors who will come and stay a few days; spend time doing the deeper dive into the background, or that's what I took away from the piece, anyway.

Further reading about Daniele Kihlgren's Sextantio project was well worth the time. He's an interesting individual on an equally interesting quest to restore and revitalize nearly abandoned Italian villages. For profit? Sure, but when those places and the few inhabitants left had been left to languish and ruin... A couple of snippets:

https://widerimage.reuters.com/story/reviving-a-medieval-italian-village

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/saviour-of-santo-stefano-one-mans-crusade-to-save-southern-italys-ancient-villages-1944769.html

http://global-citizen.com/daniele-kihlgren-italy-santo-stefano-sextantio/