Italy has been recognized as the “best tourist destination of 2021” by the Spanish section of the International Federation of Travel Journalists and Writers (FIAT), announced the Italian Embassy in Madrid.
In an official statement, the diplomatic headquarters explained that the "Bel Paese" (Beautiful Country) was chosen this year "for the unique character of its cities, where music, gastronomy, art, and the simple pleasure of living merge."
The award granted to Italy was received by the Italian ambassador to Spain, Riccardo Guariglia, delegated by the minister of Italy tourism, Massimo Garavaglia.
“It’s a beautiful sign of hope for our tourism”, celebrated Garavaglia, expressing pride in the recognition.
The tourism sector in Italy has been one of the most affected by the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to a study, one in four professionals in the area were fired in 2020. The data released this Friday (21) are contained in a study carried out by Federalberghi, an entity that brings together hotels and inns in the country, and by Fipe, the association responsible by the restaurant sector, in partnership with the National Bilateral Agency for Tourism (EBNT).
According to the research, the worst reduction in the number of employees concerns those on fixed-term or seasonal contracts: one in three was fired.
The health emergency caused huge losses for the tourism sector, after years of growth, and caused the number of registered workers to increase from 1,3 million in 2019 to 953 thousand in 2020.
The number of layoffs in one year, according to the study, is as if the sector had gone back practically a decade, returning to the number of employees recorded in 2011.
The crisis hit women hardest (183 fewer employed compared to 2019), young people and foreigners, with the last two categories seeing a reduction in employment by 30% and days worked by 40%.
“We know that a lot has already been done to support employment. Just think that from April 2020 to February 2021, 55 million hours of layoffs were authorized on average per month for hotels and restaurants alone, but the entire tourism sector calls on the government to act quickly to prevent the situation from worsening even more so in 2021”, says EBNT.
According to the tourism agency, it is necessary to act immediately, increasing financial support for companies and vaccinating employees, to be more attractive in the market. (Handle)
