Tourism was the first sector to go into crisis following the coronavirus pandemic and will be the last to go out. This was said by Bernabò Bocca, president of Federalberghi, at the 72nd assembly of Italian hoteliers in Parma, in the presence of the Minister of Tourism, Massimo Garavaglia.

"In 2021, the expenditure of foreign travelers in Italy decreased by over 22.5 billion euros, with a decrease of 50.9% compared to 2019 - explains Bocca -. I emphasize that the data cited reflect the national average and that there are places and companies where the loss is much greater. With the start of the new year, unfortunately, the situation has further worsened ”.

Furthermore, “tourist accommodation and spas are the ones that continue to pay the highest price. In 2019, the added value of accommodation services amounted to 27 billion euros, marking an increase of 32% compared to 20.4 billion in 2013. In all likelihood, growth would have strengthened further had the pandemic not appeared ". While, continues the president of hoteliers, in 2020 the added value "halved compared to the levels of 2019" (-54%). The trend continued in 2021, with a decrease of 32% compared to 2019.

Negative signs also with regard to tourist presences, based on data provided by Bocca, 2020 closed with a loss of 228 million overnight stays, equivalent to an average decrease of 52.3% compared to the previous year, with peaks which in some places have exceeded 80%. "In 2021, despite the positive signs recorded in the second half of July and August in some places that mainly target the domestic market, 156 million tourist presences were missing - he continues -, with a decrease by 35.8% compared to 2019, of which 118 million relating to foreign tourists ". While in a "normal" year international tourists contribute 50.5% to the total overnight stays and the expenditure of foreign tourists contributes to the balance of trade with 44.3 billion euros.

The staff is moving further and further away from the sector and there is a lack of “valid, professionally competent and motivated collaborators”.

“We can and must look to the future with confidence. Return to our work, reopen our homes to the guests we have long awaited, illuminate our cities with our lights and fill them again with the thousand voices that we have missed so much. Tourism is peace, encounter, knowledge, experience of the other. A world with more tourism is a better world ", reiterates Bocca.