A disastrous year has come to an end for tourism in Italy. As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, tourism sales have plummeted to the same levels of 1969. This was reported by the tourism association Assoturismo Confesercenti.
The number of overnight stays fell by 55 %. In contrast to 2019, 157.1 million overnight stays by foreign visitors were lost. In addition, another 83.6 million overnight stays by domestic tourists were lost. The situation is thus critical on the Apennine peninsula.
Problems to Continue in 2021
The decline in tourism is associated with a decline in consumption in the order of 50 billion euros, according to a study by the association.
Because of the lockdown over the Christmas holidays alone, Italy lost 3.5 million Italian and foreign tourists, who would have given the sector a turnover of an estimated 1.2 billion euros.
The tourism in Italy, which accounts for 13 % of the country’s gross domestic product, is expecting considerable problems in the new year as well. “It is difficult to suppose that tourism will restart before the second half of 2021,” said Vittorio Messina, president of Assoturismo Confesercenti.
Unprecedented Effects
Italy was hit hard by the Covid-19 crisis. During the spring, travel under lockdown conditions was hardly possible. A slight recovery came in the summer months when Italy relaxed regulations, but at the same time, this decision was considered a reason for the new rise of infections at the end of 2020.
Overall, the country with around 60 million inhabitants has so far recorded more than 75,000 deaths with Sars-CoV-2 and more than 2.17 million infections as of January 5.