So in a note the Political Coordinator of the UDC in Sicily, Hon. Decius Terrana, so that the Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte can also intervene urgently on the serious socio-economic crisis that is causing the alarm of these days on the propagation of the "Coronavirus".
“The spread of the COVID-19 virus in Italy, and now across Europe, is seriously causing the local economy to collapse, driven by the hospitality and catering facilities. Thousands are cancellations in our Sicilian structures; several hoteliers contact us seriously worried that they will no longer be able to guarantee even the essential services, being forced to close all activities within days. Certainly the continuous presence of the topic in the media has also triggered excessive preventive measures which, however, are now proving effective in containing the spread of the epidemic. However, especially abroad, there has been a strong concern about the risk of a pandemic in completely safe areas; further measures decided by the Government, however necessary, have led tourists to cancel any reservation and avoid any crowded places. The result is that hotels and restaurants, being less than the estimated revenues in this period, risk a serious crisis that will force to block the tourist activity in our territory ".
The UDC Regional Secretary invites everyone to calm down, but wants to urge the government to take swift measures that can make the coming crisis less serious.
"We are in constant contact with Federalberghi, which has already reported how the tourist accommodation situation has precipitated in a few hours "- continues Decio Terrana -" just as we are already moving, at a regional level, to give first aid to companies in difficulty, with the motion presented by our Regional Deputies Vicenzo Figuccia, Danilo Lo Giudice and Eleonora Lo Curto to guarantee at least the temporary exemption of the payment of tax obligations to the companies involved. But we know it may be too little. We also ask that the tourist tax be suspended in tourist places and that what is accumulated can be used to give a first breath of fresh air to the accommodation facilities. Furthermore, we believe it is right that the Government, once the health emergency has been managed, is now also concerned with avoiding the complete economic collapse of our territories with emergency measures that aim to avoid the closure of our tourist-hotel activities.".