Italy introduces holiday bonus to revive domestic travel

As coronavirus fears continue to ravage Italy’s tourism industry – despite the country’s extraordinary cultural heritage – the government is subsidising some of its citizens to go on holiday in their home country, according to a report by France 24.

Italy was one of the first countries to reopen its borders to European Union (EU) tourists in June. Nevertheless, tourism is still suffering, with a revenue shortfall this summer predicted at top 3 billion euros. 

In this context, the government is trying to prop up its tourism industry – which represents 13% of the national GDP – by sending money to households earning less than 40,000 euros a year as an incentive for them to go on holiday within Italy.

Initially, Italy was one of the countries impacted the most by the coronavirus pandemic. After the health hazard erupted in China, it quickly spread to Iran and Italy. Since then, the tourism business has returned revenues which can only be described as next to nil.

With 61.6 million tourists per year (2018), Italy is the fifth most visited country in international tourism arrivals. People mainly visit Italy for its rich culture, cuisine, history, fashion and art, its beautiful coastline and beaches and priceless ancient monuments. Italy also contains more World Heritage Sites than any country in the world.