La pandemic also had a significant impact on the Milanese cultural fabric: in just six months, local businesses have lost 33,8 million euros, 99% had to reschedule the activity already defined while 63,5% stated that they had ancillary services that were interrupted. On the other hand, over half of the subjects took steps to benefit from the aid launched by the Government and more than 80% of the subjects expanded their online offer to make up for the closures and distancing measures imposed to contain the spread of the virus. This is what emerged from the survey carried out by the Studies and Research Department and the Media and Culture Desk of Intesa Sanpaolo in collaboration with the City of Milan.
The research also showed that the lockdown and restrictive measures also had negative effects on the sector. In absolute value, taking into account the maintenance costs incurred against zero collections due to closure and the extent of the damages declared, the loss of 33,8 million euros represents an underestimate if we consider that the damages declared refer to the period 31 January-31 July 2020 and do not take into account the autumn/winter lockdown.
These are damages suffered in relation to the forced suspension of the activity for the following reasons: loss of income deriving from the forced suspension of the theatre/music season and laboratory activities, all assessed on the basis of the latest budget approved by the company/association (September 2019/August 2020) and on the basis of the activities carried out until the closure of the activities.
Among those most affected are those of the production (content producers); in terms of size, the smaller realities suffered above all. In terms of specialisation, however, a greater impact is observed for Area 1 for the visual arts/museums/design sector (where the presence of museums/museum houses has a heavy impact on maintenance costs). In suffering also the subjects of Music/dance e Theatre/cinema who have suffered the cancellation of events/shows already organized and suffered the suspension of training activities.
In detail, the survey collected data relating to 367 operators Milanese cultural institutions, very different in terms of activity and specialization, which participated in the tenders of the Culture Plan designed to support companies in difficulty due to the health emergency. It is a very varied and rich cultural fabric that includes both event producers (35% of the sample) and subjects dedicated to the promotion and enhancement of cultural activities (35% of subjects), such as training schools that manage courses and/or entities that organize visits and events. Then there are operators (30%) who offer a variety of different services, from technical/professional support to cultural centres, with particular attention to the social needs of local communities. Approximately 35% of the subjects work in the theater sector, but it is also interesting to highlight the presence of a highly diversified nucleus of businesses (20%), active on several fronts and which reflects the richness of the present offer.
The subjects who have applied for tenders are mainly small (over half declare a turnover of less than 200 thousand euros) and are located in almost the entire municipal area, with a prevalence in the city center but with a good presence also in the multiple peripherals.
