“We immediately asked that the flood decree contain a chapter dedicated to tourism and, in particular, at the refreshment points for tourism businesses and the tourist ecosystem affected by phenomena never recorded before in Italy, with over four billion cubic meters of water fallen in Emilia-Romagna from 1 to 17 May. And we thank the Government for making it available immediately 10 million euros”.
Thus the president of the Region, Stefano Bonacciniand the regional councilor for tourism and trade, Andrew Corsiniat the meeting promoted by the Region with the regional trade associations of the sector to develop together a series of proposals to be presented to the Government for the allocation of resources.
The recipients of the first resources
The first tranche of resources aims to compensate hotels, campsites, accommodation facilities dedicated to hospitality, bathing establishments, amusement parks, bars and restaurants.
In practice, the Region’s proposal accepted by the associations envisages using the ceiling of 10 million euros to compensate the companies that have suffered 20% turnover losses from May 1 to June 30, 2023 compared to the same period last year. With a tender that will be managed directly by the Government to speed up the disbursement of funds as much as possible without too many bureaucratic steps. And all the companies active in the Municipalities included in the flood decree will be able to benefit from it.
Extend aid to the Rimini coast as well
“We will ask the Government to extend the list of Municipalities to also include those on the Rimini coast – specified Bonaccini and Corsini – because obviously the indirect damages must also be quantified in the calculation of the damages”.
Another proposal concerns the loan suspension which is currently set at two months and the Region will ask to extend it to at least 12 months, and thezeroing of interest rates on loans after that assessors Calvano and Colla met with representatives Abi (Italian Banking Association).
“The important thing is to act and do it quickly – the president and councilor closed – because Emilia-Romagna cannot wait. As with the earthquake, we need a technical commissioner structure to plan right now after the flood. Aiming to use measures that we have already seen work with the earthquake and Covid. We cannot continue working with extreme urgencies: we already have bulldozers stopped in some municipalities because there is no decision maker and this is not admissible. We have to work together to rebuild and start again”.
President Bonaccini announced that on Thursday, during the permanent table chaired by the minister Musumecitogether with Anci e Upi, the Region will bring the quantification of the damages and the detailed projects to be started immediately. Returning to tourism, other measures are planned for promote the image of the region in Germany ed international events to extend the tourist season.
Refreshments also for the snow crisis
Finally, the commissioner Corsini informed on two almost ready provisions for the mountains. These are the refreshments for the snow crisis: 4 million euros to compensate for the loss of turnover of companies in the municipalities where the ski area is located, and the tender from 30 million euros for investments to be made in ski resorts.