Italy's tourism woes: cultural inferiority and poor hospitality

Fabio Severino, an economist and sociologist, argues that Italy's tourism industry suffers from a cultural inferiority complex that manifests as neglect and poor service. Despite Italy's natural beauty and cultural wealth, many hotels are run-down and staff demotivated. The explosion of private vacation rentals is partly due to a lack of quality hotel offerings, even in regional capitals. In 2023, tourism declined in all beach destinations as Italians traveled abroad and foreigners did not fill the gap, partly because domestic flight costs rivaled those to foreign cities like Paris, Istanbul, or Barcelona. Severino attributes this to a mindset of 'I am Italy, people will come anyway,' coupled with a reluctance to invest in quality. He calls for regulations requiring systematic rentals to have a VAT number and dedicated ATECO code, and for competing on quality rather than resting on natural advantages.