Italy’s Travel Industry Execs Call for No More Wasted Time

The dramatic reality of organized tourism has once again come to the fore. The forewords of Rimini, during TTG Travel Experience with the initiative S.U.B.I.T.O. today, had an important moment. 

Six presidents of as many travel agency and tour operator national associations, as a threshold to the meeting with the Minister of tourism Garavaglia, have launched a heartfelt appeal. 

There is no more time left to save a sector that will never recover if immediate action is not taken.

The strong appeal was shared by Pier Ezhaya President (http:www.astoi.com) Astoi Confindustria Viaggi; Franco Gattinoni President of the (http:www.ftoitalia.it) Federation of Organized Tourism of Confcommercio; Domenico Pellegrino, President (http:www .federturismo.it) Aidit Federturismo di Confindustria; Ivana Jelinic, President (http:www.fiavet.it) Fiavet Confcommercio; Enrica Montanucci, National President (https:www.maavi.it) Maavi Conflavoro Pmi, and Gianni Rebecchi, President of (http://www.assoviaggi.it) Assoviaggi.

The leitmotif of the six top executives was uniform: "It's late, the message must be loud and clear, we can't wait a minute longer". The organized tourism  sector is the only one to have remained crystallized and unmoved throughout the pandemic. Indeed, for 20 months, forced inactivity has dramatically impacted the lives of companies and workers in a sector that invoiced 13.3 billion in 2019, which has seen a collapse to around 3 billion in 2020 and will close 2021 in an even worse situation, probably around 2.5 billion in revenues, with a reduction of more than 80% of the business. 

Going into more detail, Italians' trips abroad show a drop of 92% in 2021 due to the closure of almost all non-EU destinations, while business travel has lost three quarters of its turnover and the events sector has dropped by 80%.

Incoming has collapsed as well: foreigners' presence suffered a drop of 54.6%, while school tourism is about to be completely eliminated for the third consecutive year.

Pier Ezhaya President Astoi Confindustria Viaggi, warns: “No one in Italy is aware of the gravity of the crisis facing tour operators and travel agencies. From February 2020 to December 2021 we lost 21 billion out of 26, in turnover. We are in a collapse situation, urgently we need consistent relief from losses and concrete actions. The government must take responsibility for securing organized tourism or for letting it die.”

Government aid came with a dropper and, in fact, in the face of a sector loss of 20.5 billion in 20 months, the government has allocated only 657 million to date, of which 128 million still to be distributed. covering only the losses incurred from March to July 2020. 

Franco Gattinoni President of the Federation of Organized Tourism of Confcommercio, does not use turns of words «We heard from Prime Minister Draghi the promise that companies blocked by decree would be reimbursed immediately, but this was not the case: in a year of losses greater than 2020 due to restrictions on international travel, we have had zero aid to date. Organized tourism is a sector destined to collapse if urgent action is not taken».

Tour operators and travel agencies, since the beginning of the pandemic, have been forced to make massive use of social safety nets: still almost all companies have 100% layoffs, but the Cig Covid expires at the end of December. Without extension, 40,000 out of 86,000 employees are already at risk of unemployment; in fact, it is estimated that 98% of companies will not cover the cost of labor without shock absorbers and more than 80% will resort to layoffs. Furthermore, in the sector, 70% of the employed are women (60 thousand) and this crisis will cause the loss of employment, professionalism and many companies in pink.

Domenico Pellegrino, President of Aidit Federturismo of Confindustria. “The very low international mobility costs Italy about 100 billion euros in 2020, two thirds of which are due to the lower tourism spending in Italy and a third due to the lower added tourist value. The closures of 2021 are expected to be even worse. The pandemic has brought back more than 10 years a sector that has been entirely sacrificed on the altar of public health but whose cost is intended to be absorbed only by the companies involved, literally bringing them to the pavement.”

Now the appearance of Omicron does not bode well for the foreseeable future, although the Health World Organization has warned countries against imposing further travel restrictions without first obtaining clear scientific evidence and although the EU has recommended adopting an approach based on the personal condition of the traveler more than on the generic country risk. This approach is desirable due to the high vaccination rate achieved in Europe and the protocols that allows to move safely.

The President of Assoviaggi, Gianni Rebecchi, does not deviate from the line of his colleagues, and also underlines that “without an immediate intervention by the government, the history of an entire sector that in the last 50 years has always contributed to the economy of our country ends. never ask the state for anything, guaranteeing jobs especially for young people and women. Now, after almost two years of de facto lockdown, there is an urgent need for support for businesses and an extension of the protections for workers, or the collapse of the sector will be inevitable.”

According to Ivana Jelinic, President of Fiavet Confcommercio, “…travel agencies represent a value for the entire tourism supply chain and if in a moment of uncertainty like this this value is not understood, we offer our international competitors an opportunity to supplant an important piece of our production fabric, devouring our offer. If the Government ignores this urgency, there is a risk of selling off the most beautiful industry we have to those who can afford it.” 

For Enrica Montanucci, National President of Maavi Conflavoro Pmi, a strong association recently born, during the pandemic, “Tourism is often considered as a sector that deals with a non-essential activity, but it is easy to forget that, instead, for 86 thousand people and 13 thousand companies it is daily bread, of life, of families to support, of commitments to honor. We live on what the government considers as a non-priority sector, as the only source of livelihood.” 

The facts remain that beyond the opinions, totally converging, however, the sector has a very urgent need for some measures, to be implemented immediately also using the vehicle of the Budget Law 2022:

Tourism Package in Budget Law by the Draghi Government:

- Refinancing of the fund for tour operators and travel agencies for 2021 for at least 500 million;

- Extension of the redundancy fund for the tourism sector to June 2022, so that companies in the sector that are still inactive can use them for their employees;

- Rents tax credit extension: extension of the tax credit on commercial leases and business leases and transfer until June 30, 2022.

And then:

- Removal of the ban on travel for tourism and greater use of effective security protocols, in order to reward immunized travelers;

- Financial interventions: creation of a bridging loan of at least 24 months at zero interest to allow companies to redeem vouchers that will expire shortly.

In all likelihood, given the current scenario, the sector will not be able to restart at least until next spring (2022). It is therefore a set of measures which, only if implemented promptly, could keep the organized tourism sector on its knees, at least for the next few months.