The tourism industry was hit hard by the Coronavirus pandemic and Italy is one of the countries affected most, seeing as its economy is heavily dependent on the sector. After difficult months and a lengthy lockdown, however, the country is preparing to revive its economy engine, both on the nationwide and regional level.
To help families and tourist activities, the Italian government has approved the so-called “holiday bonus”. The bonus, funded by the government, will be available from 1 July to 31 December 2020 and will be equal to 500 euros per family and 150 euros for singles. It will be given to Italian families who decide to spend their summer holidays in Italy.
In addition to this, the government has also set up a 50 million euros fund to help businesses in the Italian tourism sector to bear the costs of sanitation, safety and health requirements for the facilities and individual workers. Finally, Italy has also set up a “Fund for the promotion of tourism in Italy. It will have a budget of 30 million euros and will try and revive the tourist flow during the year.
Florence with an ad hoc voucher, Sicily introduce ‘packages’
Other than the government nationwide, individual regions are also studying strategies to try and revive the sector on the Apennine Peninsula. Amidst the pandemic, innovative ideas and concepts are being introduced and discussed across the country.
The Sicily region, for example, is preparing to put 600 thousand tourist packages on the market. The idea is to gift one night to those who will stay at least 3 nights in the region. This was announced by the regional councilor for tourism Manlio Messina. He also spoke of “50 million euros to be made available to try to immediately give liquidity to businesses”. The details will be disclosed when the regional budget is approved.
Meanwhile, Florence is gearing up to add one of its vouchers in addition to those provided by the government with the “Relaunch decree”. “If you come to Florence, we will give you a discount equivalent to that provided by the state,” mayor Dario Nardella explained. Moreover, he added that the recovery of the Italian tourism sector will have three phases. In 2020 the recovery of domestic tourism, at the beginning of 2021 tourism in European countries and from summer 2021 intercontinental tourism.
Emilia Romagna to allocate 2 million, possible tax relief in Lombardy
Emilia Romagna is ready to allocate 2 million euros to restart the industry through promotion campaigns and in the main national newspapers. This was announced by the regional councilor for tourism Andrea Corsini. The investment aims to relaunch the industry in a tough time for Emilia Romagna. Targeted discounts and incentives are also being studied in this direction.
The Lombardy region will evaluate, within the limit of available resources, the adoption of a favorable tax regime for those staying in regional accommodation facilities. This was established within the framework of the law simplification agenda accepted by the chamber. It also provides for some rules to make local farmhouses more flexible in their services.
20 million in non-repayable funds in Lazio, residence bonus in Cilento
Lazio, for its part, is ready to allocate 20 million euros for non-repayable measures to support the revival of the tourism industry. “There will be an online request with a declaration of self-certification, without many attached documents and with an indication of the Iban on which to credit the funds,” said the councilor for tourism of the region, Giovanna Pugliese.
Campania and Cilento have introduced a somewhat more curious and innovative measure. This is connected to the smallest town in Campania - Valle dell'Angelo – a small village of about 120 inhabitants. “In contrast to the tourist tax applied in other regions, we have developed a project that includes the residence bonus,” explains the mayor Salvatore Iannuzzi. All those who will stay in the village will receive an economic bonus that can be spent in shops in the municipal area.