Economics
Italy Targets Mid-May Opening for Tourism in Bid to Save Sector
- Country expects to have vaccine passports before rest of EU
- Government planning ‘Covid-free’ rail travel, minister says
Gondolas on the empty Grand Canal in Venice.
Photographer: Marco Di Lauro/Getty Images
This article is for subscribers only.
Italy is aiming to open the country to tourists in mid-May, pledging a range of measures to protect visitors from the coronavirus as it scrambles to rescue a sector devastated by lockdowns and restrictions on movement.
As part of the race to get the industry back on its feet, the Rome-based government will introduce so-called vaccine passports earlier than the rest of the European Union, Tourism Minister Massimo Garavaglia said in an interview. “Conditions are right to start the summer season on May 15,” said Garavaglia, a 53-year-old lawmaker from the rightist League, Italy’s most popular party.