Tourist hotspot Italy turns into virus no-go zone

Tourists from across the world flock daily to Italy to marvel at its art-filled cathedrals and Roman ruins.

But the rolling hills of Tuscany and the ancient city of Pompeii have looked almost abandoned since the coronavirus pandemic turned the Mediterranean country into a strict no-go zone.

The resulting economic hit to one of the world's most visited nations is profound. Tourism employs an estimated 4.2 million Italians -- just under a fifth of the entire official workforce.

The question many are asking is whether the Italian economy -- the European Union's third-largest and dependent on tourism for 13 percent of output -- will ever be the same again. It will take "one or two years to get back to where we were," Italy's tourism secretary Lorenza Bonaccorsi told AFP.

But Bonaccorsi conceded that 2020 might as well be "written off".

Easter traditionally marks the real beginning of the tourist year. Hotels are supposed to be hiking their prices -- not locking their doors for the coming weeks and possibly months But they are closed along with all other businesses across the nation of 60 million.

The government, with world's highest COVID-19 death toll, is debating how and when to end it's month-long lockdown.

But will hotels be able to draw tourists even if they were allowed to operate again? Italy's Confturismo tourism association estimated the crisis would result in lost income of 22 billion euros as 45 million tourist nights go missing.

"But with the lockdown extended, that is going to mean 90 million lost nights -- and that only at the beginning of the year through to May," said Alberto Corti of Confturismo.

For the rest of the year, the association does not even want to hazard a guess.

Corti says the industry as a whole is worth 200 billion euros (USD 215 billion euros) a year and provides an important knock-on effect for other sectors.

"One hundred euros spent on tourism generates 86 euros in other sectors," including the food sector and real estate, Corti said.

Italy has its advantages -- such as 55 UNESCO world heritage sights that put it on a par with China. But even with that, "it is still impossible to say when Italy... will come out of the health emergency," Bonaccorsi said.

One possibility is that domestic tourists, who normally account for half of the total, will help make up some of the damage.

According to a survey done for Confturismo, seven out of every 10 Italians think the crisis will be over in two or three months.

Nearly half say they would then be ready to go on holiday somewhere in Italy. Confturismo has asked the government to reduce taxes and make up for at least some of the lost revenue, Corti said.

Like many other countries, Italy has announced a series of costly measures and supports designed to protect the economy, its businesses and workers, during the shutdown.