Organized tourism: “86 thousand workers and 13 thousand businesses are at risk”

“13,000 companies and 86,000 employees are at risk”. What arises from the organized tourism sector, from travel agencies to Italian tour operators, is a real cry of pain. “It is the only sector that has been blocked for more than 20 months, in practice, throughout the pandemic. Specific interventions and support are needed to save a sector that generates a turnover of over 13 billion a year”. This is what the main associations of the Astoi sector, Fiavet, Fto-Confcommercio, Assoviaggi-Confesercenti, Aidit and Maavi, represented by their presidents, reported in a single voice, today at a press conference in Rome. “There is no more time,” they said, a phrase that was also reported on their masks. In fact, the sector has seen a collapse of 3 billion euros in 2020 and will close 2021 in an even worse situation, probably around 2.5 billion in revenues, with a reduction of more than 80%. This is the sector that concerns the travels of Italians abroad which in 2021 show a decline of 92% due to the closure of almost all non-EU destinations, while business travel has lost three quarters of its turnover. and the events sector fell by 80%. Organized incoming has also collapsed, the presence of foreigners has suffered a drop of 54.6%, while school tourism is about to be completely eliminated for the third consecutive year. This is what is reported by the operators who urgently request in the budget law the extension of the cig covid which expires on 31 December until June 2022 and the refinancing of the ad hoc fund for travel agencies and tour operators for 2021 with at least another 500 million EUR. Travel agencies and tour operators are also asking for the extension of the rental tax credit, or the extension of the tax credit on commercial leases and business leases and assignments until 30 June 2022. The removal of the ban on travel for tourism is a greater use of effective security protocols, in order to reward immunized travelers, and last but not least, financial interventions with the creation of a bridging loan of at least 24 months at zero interest to allow companies to repay vouchers that will expire shortly. In fact, government aid came with a dropper and, in fact, in the face of a sector loss of 20.5 billion in 20 months, the Government has allocated to date only 657 million (128 million still to be distributed), covering only the losses suffered from March to July 2020. Tour operators and travel agencies since the beginning of the pandemic have been forced to make massive use of social safety nets: still the almost all companies have 100% layoffs and it is estimated that 98% of companies will not cover the cost of labor without shock absorbers and more than 80% will resort to layoffs. In the sector, moreover, 70% of the employed are women, 60 thousand, and this crisis will cause the loss of employment, professionalism and many companies in pink.