This summer, Rome had changed dramatically. During the holiday season the city is usually full of travelers scurrying under the hot sun, all the seats in the booked hotels, and restaurants. But it all seems to be in the past. Pandemic coronavirus dealt a crushing blow to one of the most visited capitals of the world. Tourists do not hurry to take advantage of the unique chance to explore the masterpieces of world art and architecture without the traditional crowds, so recently a new “business cards” of Rome became oppressive silence and tightly closed shutters.
the Collapse in international tourism caused by the lack of Intercontinental flights, as well as a very timid recovery of movement in Europe, perhaps to a greater extent affected the hotel business. To be certain, just go through the center of the city – the number of hotels and was not released from the lockdown has reached alarming figures. To them, for example, belongs to the legendary hotel “Hassler,” which at the time stayed Audrey Hepburn.
“90 percent of Roman hotels are not resumed operations due to the lack of customers, which has led to huge losses at 100 million euros per month. I truly fear that a significant number of which are located in the center of the structures decide to return to the market only in the spring of 2021. The level of internationalization in Rome is 70 percent, and today the Americans, the Russians and the Chinese that define tourism in the capital, has almost disappeared… to Open a hotel for 3-4 guests absolutely unprofitable, taking into account that state subsidies sooner or later exhausted itself,” explained the President of the Association of Roman hoteliers Giuseppe Roscioli, according to preliminary calculations, the return to the turnover dependening level will only be possible in a few years. And at this stage of the calculation only with “neighbors” such as the French, the Austrians, the Swiss and the Germans, who, however, also still not particularly eager to the Apennines.
oddly enough, there is among the owners of the capital’s hotels, and desperate fatalists, who are optimistic about the future. They are not afraid to face a coronavirus. Such, undoubtedly, is a historical four-star hotel “Massimo D”‘azeglio”.
“We are not closed for a single day since the founding in 1875. Even two world wars failed to interrupt our work and the virus is not exactly succeed. So we decided to move forward, although we had to cut staff as the number of clients have difficulty in reaching 30,” – said the head of the hotel Massimo Bettoia, the philosophy of which is shared by the vast minority entrepreneurs. Because the Italian tourism sector is only the tip of the iceberg, which directly affects the well-being of virtually the whole national economy. According to the Association Unioncamere, tourism employs 612 thousand companies, employing 2.7 million workers. Due to the economic crisis and the collapse of tourism under threat of closure are restaurants, trattorias, pizzerias, bars, gelaterias. Next, a chain reaction is a situation automatically hit the agricultural sector, faced with a sharp reduction of food purchases.
Output from an unambiguous situation, as it seems to the experts, just one. Spoiled by attention of tourists the Italians should review their consumer attitude to them, to win their hearts. You need to make adjustments in prices, which in recent years too much rolls over, and to improve the service, he in the big cities of Italy, alas, leaves much to be desired. So, the authorities of Venice, more recently, indignant about the excessive number of travelers, made before the correct conclusion and decided to postpone indefinitely the introduction of a specific payment for the entry, which was to begin on 1 July.
