Covid-19 has hit many sectors of the economy hard, but if one had to make a ranking of the sectors that suffered the most from the crisis, it would undoubtedly be at the top tourism, almost zeroed in this 2020, except for the two summer months.
The year draws to a close and the first – very painful – assessments arrive. According to a photograph by ISNART-Unioncamere presented during the webinar "Turismo next venturo: the relaunch starts from the territories", the tourism sector will close 2020 with a loss of 53 billion euros. And it may not have ended here, given that for the first quarter of 2021, forecasts speak of a loss of 7,9 billion euros compared to 2019.
Above all, the drop in international tourists throughout the year had an impact on tourism turnover and exceeded 60% in the summer months. Not only that, according to the ISNART-Unioncamere report between July and October the behavior of travelers has also changed, with a fifth of global consumers saying they want to give up international travel citing among the reasons that they want to reduce their environmental impact. Last summer, as many as 81% of Italian tourists chose destinations based on safety criteria and sporting activity was the main holiday motivation. These behaviors are destined to persist over time, strongly influencing destination choices.
As regards the near future, as mentioned, in the first three months of next year the scenario will continue to be difficult due to Covid and the consequent restrictions. Losses will be close to 8 billion euros against an expected reduction of 60% of Italian flows and 85% of international ones.
“In such a complex context – he underlined Robert DiVincenzo, president of ISNART, the Institute of Tourism Research of Unioncamere - it is essential to rethink the organizational model of the sector, to develop forms of tourism oriented towards the production of value, improving the quality of the offer and increasing the services provided by individual operators and territories: a choice which also presupposes new models of analysis”.
Based on these objectives, the new Observatory on the Tourism Economy of the Chambers of Commerce, created with the technical-scientific contribution of ISNART.
"The situation is truly dramatic and every effort must be made to restart such a decisive sector for our country". Underline the president of Unioncamere, Carlo Sangalli. “The Chambers of Commerce have remained close to the tourist businesses. We have invested to implement timely actions, tailor-made for businesses: from liquidity support to contributions to guarantee the safety of hospitality up to digitization measures". For Sangalli “the chamber system can contribute to the restart in collaboration with the Regions and the Government. The relaunch can only pass through the main priorities: innovation and digital, green and young people above all".
