Italy is set to lose half of the
'presences' of tourists due to COVID-19 this year, according to
an Istituto Demoskopika survey ANSA published Tuesday.
Tourist presences will fall 52.5% to 173.5 million and tourist
arrivals will be down 51.1% to over 48 million, the survey said.
The survey was based on figures from the first eight months of
the year.
It said the picture will not change much in the remainder of the
year.
Municipal takings from a stay tax have plummeted by over 211
million euros, the survey said.
Tourist spending is 16 billion euros down with almost half,
equal to 7.2 billion, concentrated in Veneto, Tuscany and
Lombardy which have an internationalisation rate of well over
50%.
Veneto, Lombardy, Tuscany, Sicily and Lazio are the five most
hard hit regions, the survey said.
Demoskopika President Raffaele Rio said "the government must
decide whether tourism is really a strategic sector for our
economy.
"It must act...to share with sector stakeholders a single
tourism recovery plan laying out objectives, strategies,
actions, financial resources and indicators of results.
"Otherwise the lack of impact of government measures will be
compounded by fragmented governance which will delay, in a
hindering vicious circle, the recovery of Italian tourism".
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