Federalberghi: “Only 46% of Italians will take a holiday, with a drop of almost 20%”

For months, it has been argued that the 2020 holiday will be marked by the campsite. This is probably true, after all some positive signs are not lacking, but it is also right to bring your feet back on the ground and analyze the situation as a whole. Which according to Italian Federalberghi is not exactly rosy. “The Italians’ plans for the summer 2020 show the dramatic consequences of the pandemic,” writes the president of Federalberghi, Bernabò Bocca, commenting on the result of the forecast survey on Italian holidays, carried out with the technical support of the ACS Marketing Solutions Institute. “Only 46% will take a holiday (with a drop of almost 20% compared to 2019), while the majority (about 32.5 million people, 53.7% of the population) will stay at home, mainly due to the economic hardships, which force Italians to drastically cut spending”.

“After a spring in the name of total lockdown,” continues Bocca, “summer is struggling to get into gear, with signs of restarting, to say the least, timid and detectable only in a part of the market. June was penalized by post-lockdown uncertainties, July is seeing the first movements of Italians and foreigners, but we are far from the levels of past years. Complicating the picture is the total blockade of some markets that express an important spending capacity (American, Russian and Chinese).”

“Businesses continue to suffer and struggle,” concludes Bocca, “but in the absence of urgent interventions many could not make it. We therefore reiterate the measures that are essential if we want to save businesses and jobs: extend the layoffs until the end of the year, reduce the tax wedge for companies that employ staff and complete the measures on IMU and leases, to be extended in duration and applied to all hotel businesses. Without forgetting that at the reopening we will have to face an even more competitive international market and it is therefore necessary to encourage the redevelopment of the structures, taking advantage of this period, in which many companies are unfortunately empty”.