Industry groups warned on Wednesday that about 1.3 million jobs in the Italian tourism industry are at risk due to COVID-19.

According to the Observatory’s 12th annual report on the tourism labor market, the pandemic has caused a sharp shift in this trend, which was a record year for the Italian tourism industry in 2019.

The National Bilateral Tourism Administration, hotel group Federalberghi and hotel group FIPE stated that the biggest impact on tourism is employment, which accounted for 13% of Italy’s GDP last year.

In August alone, the government’s unemployment subsidy to the tourism sector reached 44 million hours, equivalent to 254,000 full-time monthly salaries.

According to the report, from January 2020 to May 2020, the number of seasonal employment contracts in the tourism and health industries has fallen by 80%, and the number of long-term stable employment contracts has fallen by 60%. The report said the prospects are not good. The government predicts that the number of recruits will drop by 70% from August to the end of the year.

Source : Ansa