L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 10 THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2020 L'Italo-Americano W e recen- t l y p u b l i - shed an a r t i c l e how Sicily, in an attempt to attract more tourists to its shores, was to imple- ment travel bonuses and offer free nights on hotel bookings. What comes out today is that, in fact, beau- tiful Trinacria is not the only region of Italy to do it. With borders opened to all EU citizens, the amount of potential visitors rose c o n s i d e r a b l y s i n c e t h e beginning of June, with the pleasant sound of foreign a c c e n t s f i l l i n g — a l b e i t w i t h l e s s i n t e n s i t y t h a n b e f o r e — o u r b e a c h e s , streets and cafés. But, con- sidering the losses encoun- tered, and with a season already largely damaged by the pandemic before it even s t a r t e d , g o i n g t h e e x t r a m i l e t o g e t m o r e p e o p l e visiting seems crucial: tou- rism represents 13% of our GDP and 15% of us Italian work in the sector, in the end. The Government ope- ned the trend offering a "holiday bonus" to disad- vantaged families, to help t h e m e n j o y a s u m m e r break somewhere in Italy: this was done especially to boost internal tourism and get us to pick our country a b o v e a f o r e i g n o n e , a t l e a s t t h i s y e a r , f o r o u r vacations. S o m e r e g i o n s , t h e n , added up their own offers. We've mentioned Sicily, which is planning to give discounts on plane fares, museum and archaeologi- cal sites' tickets, heritage events and is probably also going to throw in a n i g h t o r t w o f o r f r e e a t y o u r s e l e c t e d l o c a t i o n , d e p e n d i n g o n h o w l o n g y o u r s t a y i s . T h e r e a r e about 75 million euro avai- lable for the project, which is hopefully going to start soon, with vouchers beco- ming available online at at t r a v e l a g e n t s . I n s o m e parts of the island, inclu- ding its capital Palermo, offers are already available, though: if you fly to Punta Raisi, you'll be able to book four nights for the price of t h r e e a t p a r t i c i p a t i n g h o t e l s . B a s i c a l l y , y o u r plane ticket will get you a free night. A l w a y s i n t h e s u n n y South, Calabria decided to help its residents finan- c i a l l y , i f t h e y d e c i d e t o choose a local spot for their vacation. If you live in the region, and your annual revenue is less than 20.000 euro (22.500 USD), you can apply for accommoda- tion vouchers to be spent a n y w h e r e i n t h e r e g i o n . The StaInCalabria vou- chers may not cover the w h o l e o f y o u r s t a y , b u t they'll certainly help, with 80 euro (about 90 USD) allocated for one person, 1 6 0 e u r o ( 1 8 0 U S D ) f o r two, 240 euro for three and so on, for a maximum of 320 euro (360 USD) per family. 15 million euro have been allocated. There is more: younger Calabrese aged between 18 and 24 are also eligible for a n e x t r a 2 0 0 e u r o ( 2 2 5 USD). The lesser known, but equally beautiful, region of M a r c h e a l s o w a n t s i t s people to enjoy their sum- mer "at home," and for this reason it offers a 50 euro (56 USD) bonus to all resi- dents over 18, regardless of their income, who deci- de to spend at least two nights somewhere within the region. 1.2 million euro (around 1.3 million USD) have been allocated for the project. Northern regions have been active on this front, t o o . P i e m o n t e o f f e r s three-nights-for-one vou- c h e r s t h a t c a n b e u s e d until the end of 2021, with the aim of supporting local tourism. The regional plan, Riparti Turismo (Start again, Tourism), will invest 40 million euro (45 million USD) to give a hand to all tourism-related structures, and 5 million euro (5.6 mil- lion USD) to cover for the free nights. Each person can buy up to 10 vouchers and build up a perfect (and 2/3 cheaper) vacation for t h e m s e l v e s a n d t h e i r family. Luigi Barbero, the president of the Langhe R o e r o a n d M o n f e r r a t o Tourism Board explains how "these travel incenti- ves are welcome, as they'll hopefully support busines- ses that have been severely hit by the pandemic. Right now, it's essential to create a sense of safety and trust, so that tourists from outsi- de of Italy, too, will feel comfortable coming over." A s i m i l a r a p p r o a c h i s f o l l o w e d b y V a l l e d ' A o s t a , t h a t w i t h Piemonte shares its beauti- ful mountains. The presi- dent of the region's hote- liers believes the starting point to save the season is investing in the idea of "relaxing holidays, spent trekking and immersed in n a t u r e . " H o n e s t l y , I couldn't agree more: right now, the thought of a week spent in the solitude and beauty of the mountains is more enticing than usual, especially when compared with a weekend passed roa- sting on a crammed beach. But maybe that's just me. Last, but not certainly least, Alto-Adige, home to o u r D o l o m i t e s , w a n t s s a f e t y t o b e t h e m a i n attraction and offers free antibody tests to hotels' staff and guests. Of course, they are not compulsory, b u t i f y o u d e c i d e t o g e t tested, the province will take the tab. Let's face it, it won't be a normal summer, but after the past five months, it's nice to be able to put aside, even just for a few days, thoughts of infection, con- t a i n m e n t m e a s u r e s a n d b o d y t e m p e r a t u r e : k e e p your guard high, of course, but do enjoy some relax. LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE Beautiful Scilla, in Calabria, which is one of the regions in Italy with support schemes for those who want to spend their vacation there (Photo: Dreamstime) We want to see you! Here's how Italian regions entice tourists to visit LUCA SIGNORINI

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