2020 was a singular year for the Castellana Caves, a complex of underground cavities of karst origin among the main tourist attractions in Puglia, and the numbers prove it. A period characterized by the long closure for the spring lockdown and subsequently by the end of the year, as well as by the restrictions that imposed limited entry and limited groups, last year the Grotte di Castellana srl, a company with sole shareholder the Municipality of Castellana Grotte (Ba), which manages the karst site, closed its financial year with a record operating profit of almost 316 thousand euros.
“In the most difficult year for the tourism sector due to the pandemic, we recorded the highest profit in the history of the Caves. This success is partly the result of government intervention, but above all it is the extraordinary result of excellent teamwork involving the municipal administration, the board of directors, the board of auditors, the company's consultants, and the entire administrative office. - he stressed Victor Casulli, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Castellana Caves srl Since 2018, this company has generated profits, which it has subsequently capitalized, to a greater extent than in any of its previous years since its founding. When we began our mandate in December 2017, this company had net assets of €382, the result of 18 years of management. Today, however, with the closing of the 2020 financial statements, the company has net assets of €818. This means that from 2018 to today, in just three years, Grotte has increased its net assets by over €435. In other words, in three years, the company's assets have increased significantly more than in the previous 18 years of management. This means that since 2017, Grotte di Castellana srl has grown enormously from an administrative and corporate standpoint, and is now a better, more solid, and more capitalized company than ever before. All this is thanks to the Board of Directors, the constant presence of the Mayor, and the excellent work of the Board of Statutory Auditors, who, since the beginning of their mandate, have never been afraid to point out the various, and often ancestral, inefficiencies in the administration of this company, which this Board of Directors is seeking to correct.
The data are even more significant considering the challenges posed by the pandemic, with visitor numbers down from the previous year's record high (when approximately 320 visitors were recorded), impacted by an inevitably lower tourist flow, with almost all foreign visitors absent and school trips suspended. In fact, approximately 125 tourists visited the caves in the six months of operation in 2020, with almost all visitors being Italian (87,09% of visitors).
In 2018 and 2019, we broke all visitor and revenue records in the history of the Grotte company, but we also brilliantly weathered the pandemic, recording a profit of €315.533 in 2020. Despite this record profit, in 2020 we paid less tax than in previous years, partly due to the tax regime for state aid received, which this administration managed excellently. – continued Casulli – During these years of sound and healthy management, we have also invested in the company's karst and real estate assets, making investments that had long been neglected by previous administrations: re-roofing the offices, redeveloping the pine forest surrounding the Grotte area, replacing the electrical generator, and implementing a microclimate system in the underground site are just some of the projects implemented. This means that the Municipality of Castellana Grotte, thanks to the work of this Board of Directors, now has a karst asset that is more functional and efficient than ever before.. – he concluded – I would like to thank everyone who contributes day after day to making the Castellana Caves one of the region's main tourist attractions. Now we move forward, looking to the second half of 2021 with confidence and hoping for excellent results for the current year as well."
