Draghi said that it is important to provide clear, simple rules to make sure that tourists can once again travel without restraint in times of the pandemic.
He said that the European Union would introduce a health pass by the middle of June, allowing easy travel across the continent for those who have been vaccinated, tested negative recently or can prove that they have recently recovered from COVID-19.
Draghi said that Italy, which generates around 13% of its economic output from tourism, would have its own green pass ready by the middle of this month.
“Let us not wait until mid-June for the EU pass,” Draghi said. “In mid-May tourists can have the Italian pass … so the time has come to book your holidays in Italy,” Draghi added.
Traveling between Italian regions was strictly under restriction for much of the year to control the virus. But with case numbers going down, the government hopes to attract visitors over the summer with so-called vaccine passports.
International tourist arrivals dropped 73% globally in 2020 and almost 62 million travel and tourism jobs were lost globally due to the pandemic, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.
