News Tourism

Coronavirus: Rome tourism sector on its knees

By: Wanted in Rome

Date:

27 Feb, 2020

Rome mayor to convene meeting with tourism stakeholders.

Tourist cancellations have reached 90 per cent in Rome for March due to the Coronavirus outbreak (despite there not being any active Coronavirus cases in the Lazio region) according to tourism bodies.

Bookings are also down 60 per cent in March, with bookings "sharply down" up to June, according to trade associations Assoturismo Confesercenti Roma e Lazio and Fiavet Lazio.

The associations say they "are extremely concerned about the repercussions on the economy of the tourism sector in Lazio and primarily in Rome."

Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that the cost of lost revenue to Rome restaurants is €3 million a day, with "thousands of jobs" at risk.

The effect of cancelled hotel reservations, coupled with numerous cancelled events, has so far led to the loss of €1.5 billion to the tourism sector in Rome and Lazio, according to Stefano Fiori, president of the tourism section of Unindustria, quoted in Corriere della Sera.

Rome mayor Virginia Raggi says that the alarm raised by the tourism associations "deserves the utmost attention", saying that she would convene a meeting with stakeholders in the coming days.

The sharp rise in tourist cancellations and drop in bookings is occurring despite the fact that there is no Coronavirus emergency in Rome or the Lazio region.

The two Chinese tourists who were the first cases of Coronavirus on Italian soil are now out of danger after being treated successfully at Rome's Spallanzani hospital.

Photo Mazur Travel / Shutterstock.com