Is the worst finally over?

Rome. After years of struggling, 2015 finally proved to be a good year for the Italian hospitality sector. Still, many challenges are on the horizon, at least for specific country destinations and market segments. The absence of snow during the first weeks of the current winter season, for example, has just alerted several mountain locations, while the international terrorist threat affected most Roman hotels, nullifying the positive influence of the jubilee year. International air connections could possibly impair hospitality performance of southern destinations like Apulia and Sardinia. In the meantime, the "sharing economy" and "parity rate" are still the chief worries of hoteliers. In brief: the Italian hotel industry may have started its recovery, but "we need another five years of growth before we can make up the lost ground", declares Federalberghi President, Bernabò Bocca.

Rome. Italy has its own "Macron" law now. Last Tuesday, the national Chamber of Deputies voted on a special amendment to the so-called Competition Draft Law, aimed at giving hotels the freedom to fix room rates on their own website, independently from any parity rate clause online or offline. But there is a handicap.

Como. Currently, Italy's hoteliers are fighting against excessive taxes and fiscal injustice in their own country – as many of their colleagues are in Europe – and also against transnational OTAs and their terms as well as the Sharing Economy. The annual convention of the Italian hotel association Federalberghi clearly reflected the hoteliers' discontent. For them, there is still no silver lining on the horizon in a country, which is shaken economically and politically. The industry's performance figures from January until April are meagre. Against this backdrop, the reactions are understandable, but does it help? At least, the industry is now showing some self-criticism.

Rome. After months of debates, the Italian Parliament has finally approved the culture and tourism decree. Following the reading of the decree in both Houses, the new law confirms the fiscal concessions included in the decree's first draft that are devoted to donations to art infrastructures and activities, as well as to investments in the tourism industry.