Italy’s National Tourism Agency (ENIT) launched the first international tourism web radio last week to help re-establish Italian tourism through musical entertainment.
Web radio “Visit Italy”, available via the Internet or mobile application, will be broadcast in several languages and live with correspondents from 23 countries, broadcasting podcasts, tourism news, as well as thematic programs, travel talk shows, literary shows and exclusive interviews with national and international figures.
The program will also include “a lot” of Italian music – a tool for broadcasting Italian culture, its history, traditions and way of life.
The aim is to make travel web radio “the voice of Italy in the world” to show “diverse images of the country” both in Italy and abroad.
A number of pieces of music were selected for broadcast, divided into categories and genres, including opera, jazz, swing, dance music and traditional Italian songs. Experts’ opinions on national and international tourism trends in art, culture, gastronomy, wine, sustainable development and folklore will also be presented.
A revival of Italian tourism is urgently needed as the sector’s turnover has dropped dramatically by more than 60%, from € 44 billion in 2019 to € 17 billion last year, according to an analysis by the Unimpresa Research Center.
“The pandemic has literally destroyed one of the most important sectors of the economy in our country. Our concern after a year of dramatic figures, not only in terms of foreign tourist spending, is of concern this year and in particular the coming summer season. ” Giuseppe Spadafora, vice president of Unimpresa, commented on the situation.
The worst period for Italian tourism was the second quarter of 2020, which coincides with the quarantine measures taken by the government to tackle the first wave of Covid-19: trade lost in April, May and June 2020 totaled $ 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.
On the other hand, between January and March, the turnover loss associated with a 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.