Current plans include subsidising visitors’ accommodation costs, offering one night of a three-night trip for free, or two nights of a six-day trip, as well as vouchers for cultural and heritage activities.
The regional government said it had set aside €75 million to be given out to tourists in the form of “vouchers and cards”.
“€75 million has been allocated for the advance purchase by the region of vouchers and cards to be distributed, for promotional purposes, to tourists, once the health emergency has ceased,” local authorities announced on May 3.
Some media reports have stated that the funding would also go towards paying for flights to and from the southern Italian island, but this has not been officially confirmed.
It’s not yet known when or exactly how the vouchers will be made available, but more details are expected to be published on the Visit Sicily Tourism website once travel is possible.
Italy relaxed some lockdown measures as it entered phase two of its lockdown on Monday.
However, tight restrictions on travel to and within the country remain in place.
Italy’s culture and tourism minister, Dario Franceschini, has denied what he called “fake news” reports that Italy may be closed to holidaymakers for the rest of 2020.
“I have never talked or ever thought of closing Italian borders to tourists for 2020,” he told Italian daily Il Messaggero on Tuesday, May 28.
“I am working towards the complete opposite, and proposed yesterday at a meeting of EU tourism minsters a uniform approach to managing infection risks.
“We are also starting bilateral talks with other countries that send a lot of tourists to Italy.”
Although he ruled out closing the border, Franceschini added a note of realism.
“I imagine, unfortunately, that international tourism will drop sharply this summer – both incoming and outgoing,” he said.
“So we are making a strong investment in domestic tourism, because this will be a summer of holidays in Italy.
“You have to adopt the right balance between safeguarding health and restarting economic and social life.
“It must be done with the utmost care. We’re moving one step at a time.”
Italy’s tourism sector has suffered crippling financial losses due to the coronavirus pandemic, with industry representatives reporting “the worst crisis in recent history” even before the nationwide lockdown was announced on March 9.
Home to UNESCO sites such as Mount Etna and the Valley of Temples in Agrigento, Sicily relies heavily on tourism, and the island is at risk of a rise in poverty if things don’t pick up again soon.
