tourism-italia.com

According to the npr website, the economic slowdown has finally hit Italy with the tourism sector shrinking by 25% since 2008. Apparently it is the Americans who the Italians are missing the most as data from the Bank of Italy shows that there were 2.5 million American tourists in 2006 compared to just 1.75 million in the first nine months of last year. This is worrying news as the tourism industry is worth 10% of Italy’s GDP and 150,000 people who were dependent on tourism have already lost their jobs. With a lack of italia.it website and fewer local tourists, Italy may not have seen the worst of this recession yet. However, more people may now be able to visit Italy with big brands having to cut their prices!

Today marks the beginning of the Borsa Internazionale del Turismo (BIT) show in Milan. It runs until Sunday and is one of the most important travel shows in the world with exhibitions by countries as far away as Tourism Australia and the Department of Tourism and Resorts of Georgia, amongst others. Last year there were over 5,000 exhibitors from 152 countries and 108,500 trade visitors from all across the world. Therefore it’s important that we do the best job we can and try and encourage the world to come and visit Italy!

The continually poor conditions at the ruins of Pompeii are finally being addressed by Silvio Berlusconi’s new government. It is a great shame that one of the worlds most important cultural sites has been so badly maintained over the years. For such a well-known tourist attraction, there are currently no restaurants and only 3 toilets, with so-called ‘parking wardens’ running loose and unregulated. Berlusconi will appoint a special commissioner to resolve the issues at the Pompeii site, which in recent years has suffered from falling visitor numbers. I congratulate Mr. Berlusconi on being the person to stand up and finally do something to preserve the cultural experience of such an important heritage site.