Predicted impact of covid-19 on Italian tourism is worse than expected.

Italy's tourism industry has suffered more than predicted this summer due to the covid-19 crisis, according to a joint report by tourism confederation Confturismo Confcommercio and business group Assoturismo Confesercenti, which predict the sector will close 2020 with losses of €100 billion.

This summer, in particular, remains a "season to forget" in terms of tourism, reports Italian financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, citing the "worse-than-expected" drop of 65.9 per cent in foreign tourists in the June-August quarter, with "the few foreigners present" coming from Germany, France, Holland, Switzerland, Austria and the UK." 

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From June to August, the number of overnight stays at "official accommodation facilities" in Italy reached 148.5 million, some 65 million less than in 2019, with a stronger decline recorded in the hotel sector (down 32 per cent) compared to non-hotel accommodation (-27 per cent), reports Italian news agency ANSA.

This is the bleak picture presented by Confturismo Confcommercio and Assoturismo Confesercenti, which say they are seeking more "adequate resources" from the government.

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"At the end of March we hypothesized that the tourism sector would lose €100 billion this year and at the time it seemed like an excessively dramatic vision" -  stated Confturismo president Luca Patane - "But every day we are getting closer and closer to this figure becoming fact."

This outlook is far worse than the recent estimate by the World Travel and Tourism Council which predicted that the Italian tourism sector would suffer losses of €36.7 billion this year, from which Italy's economy "would not recover for several years."