Is Italian tourism officially decommissioned in 2020?

Italy’s tourism minister, Lorenze Bonaccorsi, said the country’s tourism sector was in “the worst crisis in recent history” and the situation would likely not return to normal this year, even if the pandemic were to reverse.

He believes it will take one or two years to "get back to where we were" and admitted 2020 "could be written off."

Confturismo, the Italian Tourism Association, estimates that the country lost 30 million tourists between March and May. The season in the country traditionally begins with the European Easter holidays – and they are clearly a failure. In 2019, Italy received 216 million tourists. Tourism provides 4.2 million jobs and 12-13% of GDP.

Experts note that spring and summer are the peak tourist income in Italy. However, many hotels already receive cancellations for autumn arrivals, that is, the expectations of tourists are not optimistic.

Confturismo calculates the total amount of losses, it may exceed 200 billion euros. Minister of Tourism L. Bonaccorsi, the country will need at least several years to return to where it was in the field of tourism.

The government is now working on incentive programs that can ease the burden on those who make a living from tourism. Various payments and taxes are carried over to the next few months. However, with the closure of enterprises and zero income, there will simply be nothing to pay in the new terms. Government support may not be enough.

Source: tourprom