Demoskopika institute chief Raffaele Rio painted a bleak picture of an industry “exhausted” by the virus, in an interview with Italian news agency ANSA.
He said 220,000 jobs in the sector have already been lost, while the future of 50,000 companies is hanging in the balance.
“Last year, processing central bank figures, in the month of August alone more than five million foreign tourists chose to spend their holidays in Italy, generating over 37 million night stays in hotels and accommodation facilities in the Belpaese, spending about €4 billion,” Rio said.
“This year, we estimate that there was a drop in the same period of around 70 per cent, with a decrease of 3.6 million in foreign tourists and a drop in expenditure of almost €2 billion.
“There is no doubt that, proportionally, art cities suffered more severely from the collapse of the sector, especially due to the significant decrease in international tourism.”
The figures from the research institute show that around six in 10 Italians who said they would be going on holiday in their own country opted for seaside resorts, mainly in Sicily, Puglia, Calabria, Emilia-Romagna and Sardinia.
Based on data from the Bank of Italy, the institute estimates that around 2.7 million foreigners decided not to stay in an art city in Italy between July and August.
Rio said at least 8 million Italians chose not to go on holiday at all this summer, due to insufficient funds.
With ANSA
