Italy's tourism sector asked the government for help on Monday (27) to alleviate the consequences of the latest measures approved to contain coronavirus infections, which have led to several cancellations or changes to the Christmas period.
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A report from the largest employer in the country, Confcommercio, warns of the “disastrous” data for Italian tourism throughout 2021, with a reduction of 60 million arrivals and 120 million overnight stays compared to 2019, before the pandemic.
Only during the Christmas, New Year until January 6, of the 25 million trips planned by Italians a few months ago, five million were canceled and 5,3 million were shortened.
It is still necessary to highlight the cancellations in the country's restaurants, due to fear of the omicron variant, which is spreading without control, and the closure of nightclubs until January 31 decreed by the government of Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
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According to the report, prepared by the consultancy company SWG, six in ten respondents spent two days away from home for Christmas, although without leaving their own region, while only 5% dared to travel abroad.
The employer considers it “obvious” that the government needs to support Italy’s tourism sector with fiscal interventions and facilitating access to credit.
The entity's president, Carlo Sangalli, believes that the resources approved so far by the government are “not enough”. “It is unthinkable that the Italian economy cannot count on the fundamental locomotive of tourism”, he warned, given that this sector represents around 13% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). (Efe)
