Despite the media campaign of the Italian government and the easing of the lockdown measures, very few people want to spend their summer vacation in Italy. According to data from several associations, the country is facing a huge fiasco. In June alone, the sector welcomed ten million fewer tourists than usual. And the prospects for the next few weeks are also bleak.
Enormous Economic Damage
The revenue from tourism activity is urgently needed to mitigate the socio-economic consequences of the lockdown and to get the economy going again. The number of new infections every day has been consistently below 200 and the country has done a good job dealing with the situation.
But the economic damage is enormous. Many jobs are at stake, especially in the extremely important travel sector. It is therefore no wonder that the government is doing everything it can to get rid of the crisis image of the country.
“The beauty of Italy has never been in quarantine,” stressed Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte recently. Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio was outraged by the concerns in neighboring countries. “If someone wants to treat us as a hospital, the Italian will not put up with it,” he wrote on Facebook.
The borders have been open again since June 3rd and if you come from an EU country, you no longer have to go through quarantine. Restaurants, cinemas, theatres, museums and opera houses are open. Beach holidays, for example on Lake Garda, are possible without a protective mask. However, demand is scarce.
Big Problems for Italian Tourism Industry
According to calculations of the Coldiretti association, a summer without foreign guests would mean a loss of twelve billion euros. This would have “dramatic consequences” for the 2.7 million employees who are dependent on the travel business. The fact that more Italians want to spend their vacation domestically than usual does not make up for the losses.
