At Easter and Easter Monday there were “1.1 million overnight stays in non-hotel accommodation facilities (from Bed & Breakfasts to holiday homes, guest houses and hostels) in cultural tourism locations, of which 400 thousand were foreigners”. This was affirmed to Adnkronos by Claudio Cuomo, president of Aigo, the Italian Association of Hospitality and Receptivity Managers of Confesercenti. In the cities of art, reservations exceeded 76% of the availability of accommodation facilities, 36% came from foreign tourists. “It is certainly the most encouraging sign of recovery after 2 years of pandemic but far from the 6.1 million presences (overnight stays) in 2019 where all the locations were sold out” underlines Cuomo. Some factors are holding back tourism, as “the fear that covid continues to instill is compounded by the Russian-Ukrainian war which destabilizes. In addition, the costs of energy and gas frighten the non-hotel accommodation companies that are already reckoning with the first quarter ending with a minus sign “. After all, the rates booked – reports the association – are for the most part with free cancellation, too unstable, where the slightest information of an increase in covid or international tensions released by the media leads to cancellation. “2022 will be another difficult year, certainly Easter gives us courage” concludes Cuomo. A situation of uncertainty that is also reflected in the hospitality of Italian farmhouses. That if at Easter they were “the great protagonists” in terms of catering where “we registered a full house for lunches in some areas, now they have suffered a slowdown” says Augusto Congionti, president of Agriturist, the association that brings together agritourisms of Confagricoltura. But in the meantime he “looks with optimism at the next bridges and reservations for the summer”.