Xmas skiing closure threatens 70% of season's business

(ANSA) - ROME, 24 NOV - The government's closure of Italy's ski slopes over Christmas will threaten 70% of the sector's yearly turnover, the skilift group Anef said Tuesday.
    "Christmas usually weighs for a third of the season," said Anef President Valeria Ghezzi.
    "But this year, considering that there won't be any foreigners and the Italians will travel less, skipping Christmas and opening only in mid-January would mean losing 70% of the season, even if we manage to open".
    The president of hotel group Federalberghi, Bernabò Bocca, said closing a skiing resort at Christmas was "like closing a seaside hotel at Ferragosto".
    He said "it is important that it is a European decision because if the countries around us, Austria, Switzerland, France and Germany, keep everything open, wgile we are all closed, you immediately understand that it means gifting Italian tourists to the other countries.
    "That is unacceptable, all the more so in this moment of black crisis".
    Premier Giuseppe Conte has ruled out big get-togethers at Christmas and is resisting pressure from regions with ski resorts for the nation's ski slopes to be reopened for Christmas. (ANSA).