Italy: the same word evokes lively squares and cheerful crowds, tourists and locals gesticulating and ice cream, humming in the midst of ordinary beauty.
But he now believes in Italian cities in the summer without The Americans, and has cities, cafes and empty museums. And many almost destitute tour guides.
“The shortage of American consumers in Italy is felt across the country, from cafes to luxury villa rentals,” says Megan Todd, program director at Context Travel in Rome.
The corporate focuses on small cultural and ancient scales led by experts. They have been waiting since spring, with a maximum of the 62 million tourists who make a stopover in Italy every summer. Some 5.6 million of them are American, the largest non-European market and the time after the Germans.
“Business is quiet without the Americans,” Todd says. “The historic centres of the maximum Italian cities are empty and any ‘real’ life occurs in the outlying areas. The museums are empty and, of course, the tour guides are out of work.
One of them is Brenda Lee Bohen, a Roman consultancy with dual citizenship trained in ancient preservation. He works for Context “with 100 percent American tourists,” based on his experience in the Jewish history of Rome.
“Surely I don’t have any source of income, nothing, all the tours were canceled since March. None of us licensed guides who paint primarily with Americans have business because of covid-19 and a ban on non-essential travel in Italy.”
The consequences of bans in Europe and the United States for the world’s fifth-largest tourist destination are enormous. From more than 180 million nights of tourists in Italian hotels in 2018, U.S. visitors only increased by 15% to 14.5 million. They contribute some 2.8 billion euros to Italy’s 42 billion euros in tourism revenue, according to Italy’s national statistics office.
Rome, Florence and Venice are the trio of attractions.
“The arrest of American tourists penalizes Italy,” says Bernab-Bocca, president of the Federalberghi national hotel association. “We are affected by the loss of the US market, which is mainly in terms of energy,” he told La Stampa. The “Schengen rules,” he said, have “devastating economic repercussions on Italian tourism.”
The consequences of tour guides have provoked a wave of protests in the country.
There is a network of Italian-American guides in Italy, married to Italians.
Theresa Potenza is another. Much of his paintings “Tour with Theresa” in high season are held at the Centro Culturale Italiano di Buffalo, which promotes Italian culture in western New York. Overall, 3 to four families stop a week from there.
“All my livelihood from American tourists. Personally, I lost a total year of income as it is almost autumn and our paintings are seasonal from March to October.
“By wasting my business with the Americans and especially the families of Buffalo, I lost not only my source of income and my passion, but also my community.
“Guiding American families is also an opportunity for me to unite the two cultures and forge bonds, and unite my two nations, my circle of relatives and my friends.
The pain is felt in either Atlantic.
“Most of my clients were devastated to have to cancel their travels, which were also memorable moments in their lives, everything they kept throughout their lives, a dream come true,” Potenza says, “a gift for their parents or grandchildren, a milestone birthday party… honeymoons, graduations, anniversaries, etc.”
Many consumers expect to postpone cancelled travel until next year.
Caring for an “energetic 3-year-old at home,” with limited child care, crisis characteristics, and closed schools and day care, made it difficult. For Potenza, he says: “Focus on reinventing my logo and my business, adapting and generating revenue. “
The ray of hope: “Since tourism has disappeared, at least I have had the opportunity to be home to take care of my daughter.”
“I hope my industry is waiting and I’ll repaint next season.”
There are different perspectives on the degrees of government support.
For Potenza, there have been “very few.” “Especially since tourism is a giant of the Italian economy and the tourism consultant is such a strongly controlled career by the government with rigorous and competitive state licensing exams.”
Todd says the relief bill is about to be approved, offering assistance to museums, tracking the hospitality and seasonal tourism sectors.
“Museums have lost all their summer income. Americans account for a very large proportion of price ticket buyers in major Italian cities.
“The government has mobilized towards what is a key component of the country’s GDP (about 12%), which deserves to help tourism companies recover even faster when travelers return.”
However, individual guides were allowed to carry the load.
Looking at his local Rome, Potenza hopes that Americans will now be willing to make sacrifices similar to those of Italians, in the face of the spread of the virus. With a genuine rally, we are in this general spirit.
“This was done in my opinion through strict police quarantine as you leave your home, neighborhood or municipality; and now with mask and temperature controls in public places.
Meanwhile, on the road to Fellini, Rome, like other Italian cities, delight in anything from the afterlife without the crowds.
“There’s a good look in the empty streets of Rome,” Potenza says, “but it’s accompanied by a sense of melancholy.”
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I have 3 decades of experience as a journalist, foreign correspondent and writer-photographer. Working for print, virtual and radio media on 4 continents,
I have 3 decades of experience as a journalist, foreign correspondent and travel writer-photographer. Working for print, virtual and radio media on 4 continents, I am also an experienced hotel journalist and writer of travel guides and cultural histories in Australia, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Borneo. Deep on the road between my Parisian and Australian bases, I write for Forbes with a globetrotting attitude and a topicality in travel, culture, hospitality, art and architecture. My hobby is to capture the unique people, situations and occasions I encounter along the way, whether in words and images. I have a bachelor’s degree in professional writing from the University of Canberra, a master’s degree in European journalism from Robert Schuman University in Strasbourg and a member of the Society of Travel Writers of the United States. Love for my wild local island of Tasmania fuels my commitment to sustainable travel and conservation.