Italian island Sicily attracts tourists with unique marketing strategy

Monday, April 27, 2020

Sicily in Italy, one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe,  is offering to pay for half of the plane ticket, as well as a night at a hotel and the entry fee for the tourist attraction in a bid to encourage international and national tourists to return in post COVID-19 time.

This island is located off the south of Italy, is attempting to lure foreign visitors back to the island after the lockdown ends on May 4.

For every three nights the travellers stay at a hotel, they will cover one of them, along with museum and archeological entry tickets. The Italian government will use €50 million (£43 million) to fund the scheme, with losses of €1 billion (£876,000) reported from March and April.

Italy sees 13 per cent of its GDP from tourism and is keen to attract tourists once the pandemic slows.

It’s hardly the first time the island has offered good deals to entice people to visit. Last year, the towns of Mussomeli and Sambuca in Sicily offered houses for just 90p as local numbers dwindled.

The only catch was that new owners had to fork out up to £13,000 to renovate the houses within the first year of buying them.

The rest of Italy is looking at ways to restart the tourist industry after being the hotspot of coronavirus in Europe.

« Back to Page