Tourism is one of the pillars of the Italian economy, emphasizes correspondent Mustafa Marghadi. “Now that that is no longer a huge problem arises. People are going to destroy it.”
So far, some 29 billion euros in income has evaporated, a large part of the trips have been canceled for the coming months. “There have been complaints about the hordes of tourists who travel to this country, but this is the completely different side. At this rate Italy goes back to the sixties, when it was still before the tree of mass tourism. “
Eelco van der Linden has one agriturismo in Italy, on a hill between Siena and Perugia. “It is going very well.” He corrects himself: “It was going really well. Because now nothing is happening here, nothing at all. And I wonder what people want to risk crossing the border in the coming months.”
Earlier that week, he heard Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, advise EU citizens not to book a summer vacation. “You don’t really want to hear that. We have to be right about that period. If nobody comes, we will miss out on 35,000 euros.”
Tourists who have already booked their trip to Italy can get a voucher. Entrepreneurs do not have to repay these immediately. For many, that is not enough to survive: they want help from the government, for example through tax breaks or discounts.
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