ROME—A queue of masked art lovers snaked around the Vatican Museum walls when it reopened on June 1 after being closed for 12 weeks. But these were no ordinary tourists—they were Romans. The museum opened two days before Italy lifted its nearly three-month lockdown, meaning movement within Italy’s various regions (as well as from outside the country) was still prohibited, so Romans could visit tourist-free. Museum director Barbara Jatta stood outside the entrance and welcomed many of the 1,600 people who reserved on the first day before they went in to get their temperatures checked. “Today is a day to celebrate, a day of great joy,” she said. “The significance of this reopening is hope. It is a great hope that we can return to normality.”
But “normality” for Italian tourism is still a long way off. When the external borders opened to E.U. citizens on June 3, only a few flights landed because travel restrictions are still in place almost everywhere else in Europe for another few weeks. But even after that, many countries will require anyone returning from an Italian holiday to quarantine for two weeks despite the country’s relatively low number of daily new cases. Some countries placing tough restrictions on Italy will not require visitors from other countries like Spain, which had more cases, to do the same, which will impact tourism into the country as much as it will affect those Italians hoping for a well deserved getaway.
Italy plans to open its borders to non-EU citizens later this summer, but it is yet unclear if those from the U.S., Brazil or Russia, where case numbers are still climbing, will have to quarantine or what those countries will do with European—and especially Italian—travelers.
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Crossing by land into Italy is also highly restricted for the foreseeable future. Austria and Switzerland will open all land borders except the ones into Italy on June 15 and anyone returning from Italy will be subject to strict “health measures.”
Greece is also advertising the opening of its islands and beaches in mid-June. That’s unless you are flying in from northern Italy, in which case you will have to stay in your hotel room for 14 days before hitting the sand. Greek authorities plan to require proof of residence for Italians lest anyone think they can take a train to Rome from Milan or Venice for an easier Greek getaway.
Italy’s Interior Minister Luigi Di Maio has suggested that the Italian ban is not all about health risks, and that many countries are shutting Italy out to lure away tourists who would generally come to Italy. “If anyone thinks they can treat us like a leper colony, then they should know that we will not stand for it,” he wrote on Facebook this week. “We do not accept blacklists.”
Germany has opted not to require travelers coming from Italy to quarantine, but will require anyone from Britain to self-isolate. France has also loosened restrictions at its border crossing with Italy, at least on paper. Lines at the Ventimiglia border crossing spanned more than 20 miles for cars entering France over the weekend, implying that at least some check is in place on what should be a hassle-free border crossing.
Tourism makes up around 15 percent of Italy’s GDP and employs thousands across the country. Last week, hundreds of travel agents lugged empty suitcases to Piazza del Popolo in Rome and restaurant owners put empty chairs in Milan’s Piazza Duca d’Aosta to protest the government’s reluctance to throw money at the struggling tourism industry and do a better job getting Italy off the black list with the E.U. Italy’s federation of restaurants says as many as 2,500 restaurants and coffee bars that rely on tourism risk closure if tourists are kept out.
Even though all commercial entities are now allowed to reopen, dozens of tourist-friendly stores and restaurants still haven’t lifted their shutters in tourist towns like Rome, Florence and Venice. Officials say as many as 20 percent of souvenir shops will never reopen even after travel gets back to whatever the new normal becomes. Luciano Sbraga, director of the Italian Federation of Public Exercises told reporters this week that he is asking the government for help for those entities that have opened but, due to social distancing measures, have seen a drastic drop in businesses. Many restaurants that cannot expand their outdoor space have had to reduce tables by half and small tourist shops can only allow one customer in at a time.
Italy, which for a time was the European epicenter of the pandemic, has reported more than 234,000 cases and registered more than 33,600 COVID-related deaths. “The battle is not won yet,” Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said; reopening its borders was a “calculated risk” that the country had to take to save the economy. Now Italy hopes the rest of the world is willing to take a risk to come back.
