Sicily Wants You To Come Visit After Coronavirus | The Weather Channel
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Coronavirus

The Italian island wants to pay half your flight and hotel to come visit after the virus’ threat passes. Italy lost $1.2 billion between March and April.

ByRachel Delia Benaim

Rachel Delia Benaim

May 1, 2020
GettyImages-1097657004.jpg

Boats moored In Sicily's Mondello harbor with the view of the city.

(Getty images)

It’s like a dream come true: an idyllic Italian island will pay you to come visit them when the coronavirus threat has passed.

Sicily is already strategizing on how to attract foreign tourists after lockdown once travel bans and infection risks decline. Their approach is simple: the regional government will pay half the price of their plane tickets, one in every three of visitors' hotel nights and all their tickets for museums and archaeological sites.

Since Sicily went into lockdown on March 10, the region lost €1.2 billion ($1.3 million) in tourism-related revenue, British media reported.

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The regional government plans to dip into their emergency “war chest,” and will use €50 million ($55 million) to pay for the program. The hope is that this investment in tourists will encourage them to spend all their extra pocket money in gelaterias, cafes, restaurants and other local businesses.

The vouchers will be made available on the island’s tourism website. The site is currently experiencing heavy traffic and often crashes due to the current tourism promotion.

Dreamers and planners alike can relish in this opportunity to have a partially funded trip to Sicily.

As we sit on our couches (and saving lives while we do it!), it’s nice to have something to daydream about. Perhaps finding a perfect cafe peaking out onto the cobblestone streets is just what you need to lift your spirits. Or perhaps catching a whiff of the aromatic lemon trees of Palermo, the Sicilian capital. Or basking in the wonder that is Mount Etna.

With 13% of Italy’s GDP coming from tourism, the country is looking to give an electric shock to the economy after the lockdown ends.

Right now, the Italian government has said that shops must remain shut until May 18, while restaurants, bars and hairdressers will stay closed until June 1 and students won’t be back at school before September.

However, it is unclear how fixed these dates are. Several weeks ago, the government had called for a May 4 end to lockdown restrictions. That date was adjusted last week.

The ministry of tourism is currently discussing creative solutions to allow people to visit beaches while maintaining social distancing guidelines.

“The softly-softly approach has been criticised by businesses, lambasted by the opposition and even questioned by parties within Conte’s fragile coalition, worried by the huge economic and social toll of the long-lasting clampdown,” Reuters reported.

Italy’s death toll is currently the second-highest globally, second only to the United States. The Lombardy region in the north was the epicenter of the epidemic in Europe.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said he had no regrets.