Italy is losing so much on lost tourism

The economic situation in Italy is very serious in the wake of the corona crisis. According to recent figures from the EU, Italy's GDP is projected to fall by as much as 11.2 per cent this year. Worst of all countries in the Union.

One of the country's most important sources of income is tourism, which accounts for 13 percent of GDP.

It is also one of the sectors most affected by corona pandemic. Few flights and general fear keep people away. On June 3, Italy opened for tourism from other EU countries, without quarantines and restrictions. So far, however, the number of foreign tourists is vanishingly small.

- In principle, mass tourism from abroad does not exist right now, says the guide Ilaria at the leaning tower in Pisa, to SVT.

The fact that foreign tourists, including those from the US and China, do not have a significant impact on revenue.

According to Enit, Italy's national tourism agency, foreign visitors will reduce by over 55 percent and it will cause losses equivalent to SEK 250 billion.

Italian domestic tourism is also falling sharply. Over 10 million Italians are at risk of poverty and many have much less money to deal with. In the seaside resorts, with new safety regulations on beaches and in premises, you still manage to attract a lot of Italians.

"But this only applies in regions such as Liguria and Emilia-Romagna," says Bernabò Bocca, president of Italy's hotel organization Federalberghi.

The worst affected are cities such as Florence and Venice where foreign visitors have been the basis of art and cultural travel. Florence loses 900,000 overnight stays this year and in Venice only 70 percent of hotels have reopened and are only half occupied. Business hotels and luxury hotels are in deep crisis.

Italy's hope is to be able to partially save the season with tourists from especially France, Germany and the UK and "only" make a loss of 50 per cent against normal instead of, as the worst case scenario is, 75 per cent.