Federturismo, the Italian Federation for Travel Agents, is pleading with the Technical Scientific Committee to help restart tourism by its extension of the country’s state of emergency. Its President, Marina Lalli, said there are alternatives such as a Travel License that could allow vaccinated citizens to start traveling. She said tourism businesses will continue to collapse without a relaunch.
The state of emergency caused by COVID-19 ongoing now until July is equivalent to the end of the Italian tourism season. This is what Federturismo, the Italian Federation for Travel Agents led by its President, Marina Lalli, said in a note where she learns “with great concern the hypothesis put forward by the Technical Scientific Committee (CTS) on the extension of the state of emergency in Italy.” The Federation asks for a travel license for vaccinated people.
Fully aware of the dramatic situation relating to the COVID-19 contagion and of the inevitable containment measures that everyone is being called on to comply with, Lalli said: “We must nevertheless highlight that the tourism sector, after 10 months of inactivity, with insufficient refreshments and zero income, has no chance of surviving without a restart, albeit limited by late spring,” continued Federturismo, “For this reason, we ask the CTS and the policy to find solutions compatible with the economic sustainability of 380,000 companies that employ 4 million people.”
The association hopes for a rapid acceleration of the national vaccination campaign and the creation of a “Travel License” that will allow vaccinated citizens to be able to start moving and travel possibly through the stipulation of government agreements or mediated by the European Union.
“These are solutions that are finally at hand today on which it is urgent to open a political but also scientific debate. In fact, there is no plan B for Italian tourism without a relaunch, even staggered and contingent, of our activities in the next 120 days; tourism businesses are now collapsing,” concluded Lalli of Federturismo.