Italy's borders have been open for over a month, but foreign tourists are still largely absent.
It is estimated to cost the country the equivalent of at least 250 billion kronor, this year alone.
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 expected to fall by a whopping 11.2 percent this year. The worst of all countries in the union.
One of the country's very important sources of income is tourism, which accounts for 13 percent of GDP.
Few foreign tourists
It is also one of the sectors hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Few flights and general fear are keeping people away. On June 3, Italy opened up to tourism from other EU countries, without quarantines or restrictions. So far, however, the number of foreign tourists is vanishingly small.
– Mass tourism from abroad basically does not exist right now, says guide Ilaria at the Leaning Tower of Pisa, to SVT.
The absence of foreign tourists, including those from the USA and China, is having a major impact on revenue.
According to Enit, Italy's national tourism agency, foreign visitors will decrease by over 55 percent and this will cause losses equivalent to SEK 250 billion.
Italian domestic tourism is also declining sharply. Over 10 million Italians are at risk of poverty and many have much less money to spend. The seaside resorts, with new safety regulations on beaches and in premises, are still managing to attract a lot of Italians.
– But this only applies in regions like Liguria and Emilia-Romagna, says Bernabò Bocca, chairman of Italy's hotel association Federalberghi.
Hardest for Florence and Venice
The hardest hit are cities like Florence and Venice, where foreign visitors have been the base for art and cultural trips. Florence is losing a whopping 900,000 overnight stays this year, and in Venice, only 70 percent of hotels have reopened and are only half-occupied. Business and luxury hotels are in deep crisis.
Italy's hope is to be able to partially save the season with tourists from, above all, France, Germany and the UK and "only" make a loss of 50 percent compared to normal instead of, as the worst-case scenario is, 75 percent.
Source: svt.se
