Destination Delightful

The tourism sector, representing seven per cent of the GDP and employing 7.1 per cent of the workforce, is starting to show signs of being back on track

More than a year after the Covid-19 pandemic began, hope and positivity has returned to Italy. In 2020, the country witnessed economic, social and health setbacks, with the GDP falling by 8.9 per cent, the number of employees decreased by 456 thousand units compared to 2019, industrial production and turnover of services fell by 11 per cent, the people infected in Italy rose to 4.15 million while the deaths due to Covid totalled 124 thousand. In economic terms, the impact of the pandemic was disastrous in many sectors, especially in services, where in some sectors, turnover was almost zero — especially in the first phase of the pandemic - due to the containment measures introduced to limit the contagion.

Tourism is one of the sectors that was the first and most violently affected by the health crisis. The measures introduced to limit infections in the world have led to an almost complete cessation of tourism activities in a sudden, widespread and simultaneous way. According to the UNWTO, international tourist arrivals dropped by about 75 per cent, sending levels back to numbers that were witnessed nearly 30 years. In simpler words, a drop of nearly 1 billion in arrivals is estimated, with an economic impact worth around $2 trillion (2 per cent of world GDP); some 100 million jobs are at risk, especially among women and young people.

Engine of the global economy

The tourism supply chain — which in addition to the hospitality sector, also involves catering, transport, cultural and museum services — is worth almost 10 per cent of the global GDP and employs more than 300 million people (10.6 per cent of the total). Before the pandemic crisis, the value (direct and indirect) of the sector was approximately $9 trillion — $1,000 billion in terms of investments and $1.7 trillion in exports, which constitutes 27.4 per cent of the exports of services.

Italy is one of the main destinations for international travel and tourism is a fundamental sector for the country's economy. In fact, the sector is worth about seven per cent of GDP and employs 7.1 per cent of the total workforce (almost 1.7 million employees). Including direct and indirect effects, it generates almost 14 per cent of the total value added and employment (2019 data). There are 32,730 hotel establishments and 185,597 non-hotel establishments, with a flow of customers equal to approximately 437 million. On average, the number of stays is 3.3 nights (2019). Italy is fourth in Europe in terms of total number of visitors (after Spain, France and Germany), having a majority share of foreign tourists. Furthermore, the country ranks first for the number of UNESCO designated heritage sites with a score of 58, ahead of China's 56.

The limitations on travel within the national territory and from abroad, added to the total or partial closures of activities related to the tourism sector. This led to a fall in turnover, which at the minimum point of the first wave of Covid (April 2020) reached 95 per cent compared to the previous year. After the partial recovery during the summer months, there were renewed restrictions in the autumn season during the second wave of infections, making it necessary to strengthen the restrictions both in Italy and in other countries. This led to a new and profound, drop in tourist presences and turnover, which in some sectors exceeded 80 per cent compared to a year earlier. On average in 2020, the turnover of the tourism sector decreased by almost 60 per cent and the decrease in total tourist presences was more than 50 per cent compared to 2019. In the first months of 2021, the seriousness of the health situation inside and outside Italy prevented the reopening of the sector's activities.

— ali@khaleejtimes.com