COVID-19: Any Future Perspectives for Tourism in Italy?

Abstract

The pandemic has strongly marked the Italian territory and had had consequences in the healthy sphere, as it is clear, and also in the social and economic fabric of the countries. The lockdown, the adoption of health safety measures and the closure of borders had immediate consequences in economies and territories. Thus, the health emergency became also a tourism and socio-economic issue. In particular, in Italy, tourism has been one of the pillars of the economic system, and certainly the impact of COVID-19 on the national tourism market has been dramatic. The tourism crisis highlighted some of the rooted tourist issues in Italy, involving, in particular, the tourist management of territories. In order to restart the design of a healthy tourism system, capable of promoting the survival of tourism and territories, had to be considered as necessary elements to restart Italian tourism such as the role of high education for quality tourism, the design of a hybrid offer to favor the development of domestic tourism and the exploration of the digital and technological field as a support tool for territorial, tourism and communication policies.