Italy’s National Tourism Agency (ENIT) last week launched the first international tourism web radio, to promote the reopening of Italian tourism through musical entertainment.
Available via internet or mobile app, “Visit Italy Web Radio” will broadcast news in several languages and live coverage with correspondents in 23 countries, podcasts, updates on tourism, in addition to thematic programmes, talk shows on travel, shows on literature and exclusive interviews with national and international personalities.
The programming will also feature “plenty” of Italian music as a tool to spread Italian culture and its history, traditions and lifestyle.
The aim is for the tourism web radio to be the “sound of Italy in the world” in order to show “the different faces of the country”, on Italian territory and abroad.
Several musical pieces have been selected, separated by categories and genres, including opera, jazz, swing, dance music and traditional Italian songs. Also, there will be shows on national and international tourism trends, art, culture, gastronomy, wine, sustainability and folklore.
The revival of Italian tourism is much needed as the sector’s turnover decreased by more than 60%: from 44 billion euros in 2019 to 17 billion euros last year, according to an analysis by the Unimpresa Study Center
“The pandemic has literally demolished one of the most important economic sectors in our country. Our concern, after a year that has dramatic numbers, not only with regard to the expenditure of foreign tourists, concerns this year and in particular the next summer season.” commented the vice president of Unimpresa, Giuseppe Spadafora.
The worst period for Italian tourism was the second quarter of 2020 which coincides with the lockdown decided by the government to deal with the first wave of Covid: the turnover lost in the months of April, May and June, overall, was equal to 10.1 billion (-84.7%), from 12.1 billion in the second quarter of 2019 to 1.8 billion in the second quarter of 2020.
In the January-March period, on the other hand, the loss in turnover linked to the lower “foreign” presence in Italy amounted to 2.3 billion (-34.5%), from 6.7 billion in the first quarter of 2019 to 4.3 billion in the first quarter of 2020.
