In 2020, tourism Italy shows €120 billion loss

Published on : Monday, April 19, 2021

The total loss equates to 51 % drop in the contribution of tourism to Italy’s GDP. In Italy in 2020, only 25.5 million international tourists have spent a minimum one night in comparison to 65 million the year before, a slump of over 60 percent.

This profitable sector has accounted for up to 14 percent of the GDP of Italy before this deadly virus attack hit the world.

The recent figures published by the WTTC in the annual Economic Impact Report (EIR), shows that a total of 337,000 people associated with the sector in Italy have lost their job.

Almost 100,000 Italian tourism companies are at major risk of bankruptcy as a result of the restrictions in travel, as per research institute Demoskopika.

To quote Gloria Guevara, President & CEO of the WTTC as informed SchengenVisaInfo.com: “The situation could have been far worse if it were not for the government’s Cassa Integrazione Ordinaria scheme, which supported up to 80 percent of a worker’s salary and kept many people in their jobs whilst the Travel & Tourism sector continued to suffer”.

Also, the report has portrayed that domestic visitor spending had dropped by 49.6 percent, because of travel restrictions within the country, as international spending was down by 62 percent.

“Another year of terrible losses can be avoided if the government supports the swift resumption of international travel, which will be vital to powering the turnaround of the Italian economy,” Guevara added.

Guevara hopes that the tourism industry could recover in 2021, based on the data, mentioning its contribution to GDP could rise by 48.5 percent, if international travel restarts by June 2021.