(AGI) Lecce, Aug 14 - Gallipoli, with just over 20,000inhabitants has become Apulia's second most-populated city overthe bank holiday weekend. Municipal figures, based on a set ofindicators linked to waste generation and vehicular traffic,show that more than 250,000 people are now in the city. TheSalento region has seen a boom in tourism, with a 30 per centincrease in presence of visitors, due to the arrival of onemillion people in the province of Lecce. Compared with previousyears, fine weather since the beginning of June has seen theholiday period grow longer. The average age of tourists headingfor Gallipoli has continued to fall appreciably. Thousands ofholiday-makers are quite young, some of them minors, choosingto travel in groups from other Italian regions and from abroadto stay in holiday accommodation. Discotheques, clubs, beachresorts offering afternoon beach parties have made Gallipolithe most popular tourist destination for young people fromEurope, along with Mykonos and Ibiza/Majorca. The presence ofvery young people with limited spending power is bringing downthe level of accommodation, with several grey areas. This isdemonstrated by the fact that, despite such high estimates oftourist arrivals in the city, even the usual accommodationfacilities are not yet sold out. "This is due to the lower ageof clients, who are looking increasingly for last minute andlast second low-cost solutions. If they don't find what theywant, they simply stay further out and pay less", said thepresident of the association of tourist operators in Gallipoli,Stefano Carlino. This explains why places like Alezio,Parabita, Matino, Maglie, Sannicola and along the Ionian coast,from Salve and Ugento in the south to Porto Cesareo in thenorth are all sold out. It is also due to the fact that thenumber of internet advertisements on a daily basis for verylow-cost accommodation has risen exponentially. Many of these,Carlino says, are possible because they are "irregular", whichis why operators in Gallipoli are to assess at the end of theseason whether or not to bring in checks, in tandem with theregional and municipal authorities and forces of law and order.(AGI). .