Terror attacks over the past year
are hitting the tourist industry, slowing down and shifting
travel habits but not stopping them completely, Italian tourism
experts say.
Jacopo De Ria, president of Italian travel and tourism
industry association Fiavet, said that slightly fewer Italians
were travelling abroad, opting instead to visit cities within
Italy.
The threat of terror attacks such as the November 13
assault on Paris which killed 130 people was a problem that
travel agencies and tourists were having to learn to deal with,
he said.
Luca Battifora, president of tour operator association
Astoi Confindustria Viaggi, said that Italian tourists that are
still going abroad were tending to avoid major centres, choosing
smaller European cities such as Lisbon and the Scandinavian
capitals.
He said there had been significant declines in tourist
numbers heading to France, Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt.
Among big Italian cities, Rome seems to have suffered the
most, with the flow of tourists down about 5% on the year in the
period between Christmas and New Year's Eve, according to the
President of hotel operators association Federalberghi in Rome,
Giuseppe Roscioli.
He put this down to Pope Francis' Jubilee discouraging
ordinary visitors and the shock of the Paris attacks.
"We know that to recover from these events you need about
2-3 months, so we hope to be through it in February," he said.
Florence was boosted by the "New Year's Eve effect" but
according to Federalberghi's Francesco Bechi, tourist presences
have collapsed by 50% from January 2.
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