Italy opens: travel buses, cheap clothes, half-empty restaurants

This ambitious decision by the Roman government to open the country to foreign tourism provoked various reactions both at home and abroad: some were delighted, others were surprised. What is this gift from the Italian government to tourists thirsty for travel and local businesses in the tourism industry? Are they the last trap of the quarantine regime?

Until midnight on June 2, movement within the country is restricted within individual regions. For example, those intending to travel by car or train from Milan to Rome must complete a form from the Ministry of the Interior, a declaration of movement and indicate the important reason for the trip. From June 3. In the morning, the Apennine Peninsula from Lake Como in the north to Mount Etna in the south will once again be a unified space where travel will not be restricted or controlled in any way.

There will be no quarantine, but questions must be answered

Those trying to travel from Italy abroad or from abroad to Italy from June 3 will receive much less clear information. Paris has already expressed its discontent through diplomatic channels with the hasty and uncoordinated opening of the borders with its neighbors. Italy’s other neighbors so far have not responded in any way.

The nervous situation of travel abroad is discussed in television programs and in the media. “Austria does not open its borders to us, you are the secretary of the ministry, you drive to Vienna and ask: what are you waiting for?”

“I think we will be able to normalize passenger air transport in the first fortnight of June,” Italian Transport and Infrastructure Minister Paola De Micheli told a Delfi journalist.

“Of course, strict and precise epidemic safety and hygiene protocols will apply, and we will measure the temperature of all arriving passengers. The resumption of international tourist flows will remove the previously mandatory quarantine regime for arrivals.”

The Minister also mentioned the mandatory declaration of the travel route: “Our objective is to control the epidemiological situation, therefore, we will ask those who come to Italy which areas and cities they intend to visit.”

The Italian Minister of Transport also drew attention to the importance of bilateral agreements: “We will update flights first with those countries where coronavirus infection rates have stabilized. Of course, we will closely follow the epidemiological situation, both within our country and with the countries with which air transport will resume. If the number of infections increases, the quarantine regime in one region or another can be restored. “

The country is opening, the travel ramps remain

Lithuanian Ambassador to Italy Ričardas Šlepavičius advises not to rush to the Apennines. There will be a lot of uncertainty for those traveling by car: “Yes, the country will open its borders on June 3, but how do you physically get to Italy? Currently, the choice is small. Probably only by plane through Frankfurt. I am not sure if Germany and Austria would allow a car to transit from the port of Kiel to Italy without a clear and justifiable reason (return home or work). Car traffic for tourism is hardly possible until now. “

The ambassador offers to assess not only the nuances of departure, but also the return to Lithuania. What awaits you when you return to Lithuania? If you are a Lithuanian citizen or a foreigner with the right to live permanently in Lithuania, it will be possible to return to Lithuania, but you must isolate yourself for 14 days.

It should be noted that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs still recommends postponing travel and not going to foreign countries during the quarantine period, taking into account the WHO-declared coronavirus pandemic, a significant number of foreign infections, state movement restrictions and crossing of borders and quarantine in Lithuania. An exception for movement applies to travel to Latvia and Estonia due to our “travel bubble”.

According to R. Šlepavičius, after the opening of Italy’s borders to EU citizens on June 3, the probability that tourists from Lithuania will return to Italy very soon is not high:

The Lithuanian ambassador to Italy also recalls another flow of the tourism economy, from Italy to Lithuania: “From the beginning of my work in Rome, I mentioned promoting tourism to Lithuania as one of my priorities. In 2019, 48.9 thousand people visited Lithuania. Tourists from Italy. That is a really big number. Compared to 2018, the number of Italian tourists increased by 13.2 percent. For several years, Italy has ranked tenth in terms of the inbound tourism market in Lithuania. Italy is also one of the favorite countries and most visited by Lithuanian tourists. “

Hotel prices remained high

What kind of Italy will welcome the first tourists to come to the country this summer after an extremely strict quarantine?

You will have to be patient and think ahead of time at each step. It’s lunch time, are you looking for the right restaurant? Lunch will not be possible without prior reservation! The owner of the restaurant will request an identity document, a mobile phone number; this information will be stored.

For fans of Italian fashion, this summer will be a great opportunity to complement the wardrobe. All fashion salons have started selling new clothing collections at great discounts. Roman Mayor Virginia Raggi has announced that a year-round sales season will take effect in the country’s capital, which was previously only allowed for two winter and two summer months. It is true that you will have to choose and measure the clothes with the help of a sales assistant, who will carefully follow each step, disinfect the clothes and shoes after each measurement.

Cinemas, museums, art galleries will open in the first days of June. However, visitors who have not previously registered online and purchased a ticket will not be admitted. Huge lines of tourists in the Colosseum, the Vatican Museums, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, the ruins of Pompeii are probably a memory. The Villa Borghese Gallery in Rome will house up to 80 pre-registered visitors at a time, with a limit of up to 120 minutes.

Hotels have already started to apply flexible booking conditions, they offer the possibility of postponing the date of stay without additional penalties, they no longer require prepayment. Prices have dropped slightly, but in traditional resorts and resorts they are still high enough. On the island of Capri, for example, it is already difficult to find a room for less than EUR 150-200 per night for July.

In the center of Rome, a room in a private apartment near the Colosseum costs around € 100-120, and in the most remote areas of the capital you can stay for € 70-80 per night. The accommodation options most frequented by local and foreign tourists this summer are individual villas for one or more families.