Tourist bookings drop for 1st time in 5

(ANSA) - Rome, June 13 - Tourist bookings to Italy this summer have dropped for the first time in five years, the Cst-Assoturismo Confesercenti business group said Thursday.
    Some 205 million tourists are expected to come to Italy between June and August, almost two million down, or 0.9%, on the same period last year. The drop is among both Italian tourists, down 1.1%, and international ones, down 0.8%, the small-business group said.
    Among the factors behind the drop, it said, were uncertain weather forecasts.
    Another influence was strong competition from other Mediterranean destinations.
    Many of these other designations had been affected in the past by international tensions, the report said.
    Other recent reports have also pointed to a drop in the summer tourism business.
    Consumer group Codacons said Italian prices were too high compared to those of Spain and Greece.