Editor's Note: The COVID-19 policies and procedures listed below are up-to-date as of press time. However, we encourage all readers to head to each individual country’s governmental tourism website prior to travel to confirm the information regarding entry protocols.
Italy reopened its borders last month to U.S. travelers, but there's a catch — the country is only open to those who arrive on a sanctioned nonstop “COVID-tested” flight.
Operated by Alitalia, American Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines, these “COVID-tested” flights depart from several hubs, including New York, New Jersey (Newark Liberty International Airport), Atlanta and Dallas, with Delta already planning to expand to Boston.
Exact procedures vary depending on the carrier, as well as the city of arrival, but all U.S. passengers, whether they’re fully vaccinated or not, must show proof of a negative PCR COVID-19 test taken within 48 hours of departure. Everyone will also need to complete a digital passenger locator form online and undergo rapid testing upon arrival in Italy. For Delta flights departing before July 1, 2021, passengers must take a rapid test before departure. After July 1, that will no longer be required.
Jack Ezon, founder and managing partner of bespoke travel agency Embark Beyond, is telling his clients that they will need to take three COVID-19 tests to visit Italy, and he’s been arranging for a greeter (in Rome or Milan) to meet everyone he’s sent in recent weeks.
“It costs about $400, and nobody waits in lines,” Ezon said of the VIP arrival service he’s been using for all his Italy clients. “There have been reports of two-hour lines when you land in Rome, so a greeter is kind of necessary.”
Ezon also said clients he sent to Milan late last month told him that the wait there appeared to be about an hour long for international passengers who were lined up for the mandatory antigen testing on arrival.
Still, demand for Italy has jumped in recent weeks, according to Ezon, who said the European destination now makes up about 60% to 70% of his agency’s international business. He’s booking vacations for late June, as well as July and August to places such as the Amalfi Coast, Lake Como, Forte dei Marmi and Puglia.
“The testing is not really an inhibitor,” he said. “For those who are intimidated by it, I believe they’re staying domestic anyway … There’s just a great desire to return to the Mediterranean. It’s familiar and it’s international, and people felt cheated last summer. They felt claustrophobic. They felt deprived, so there’s just terrific interest now for Italy.”
The testing is not really an inhibitor. For those who are intimidated by it, I believe they’re staying domestic anyway.
Maria Elena Rossi, international marketing director for the Italian Tourism Board, said her organization has also seen a substantial increase in demand from the U.S. market since the country reopened to Americans on May 16.
In Italy, masks remain mandatory both indoors and outdoors, and officials are still urging people to practice social distancing.
Credit: 2021 Piergiorgio Sorgetti/Bologna WelcomeRossi also noted that U.S. bookings have surged for vacations during Italy’s traditionally lower-season period of late fall and winter.
“The coast of Amalfi will be open in November, which was not the case before,” she said, explaining that the southern seaside destination typically uses that period to refurbish and renovate. “They’re now absolutely planning to stay open … The opportunity to sell Italy in the winter is also very, very realistic.”
Some 6 million U.S. travelers visited Italy in 2019, according to Rossi, who said that figure jumped 18% from the previous year’s total. Tourism makes up about 13% of Italy’s GDP, Rossi said, noting that North America is the destination’s largest source market.
Prior to the pandemic, Italy had been enjoying a trend of double-digit annual arrivals growth from the U.S. several years running, according to Rossi, who said the recent absence of the market has been tough.
“There is a very long tradition of American travelers coming to our country,” Rossi said. “And for us, it is a high-value market because, on the one hand, there are many Americans who are coming for the first time, visiting our art cities. But there are also very high numbers of repeat [visitors] who wish to come back or to see other areas, to visit other lesser-known areas. There is a very strong tendency now, a trend concerning [visits to] rural areas and villas in the countryside in [places such as] Tuscany or Umbria.”
Much of Italy is now open again to Americans, though capacity restrictions are in place across many venues, including shops, bars and restaurants where dining has resumed both indoors and outdoors, according to the Italian Tourism Board’s website.
Museums and cultural attractions have also reopened with capacity restrictions, and vacationers can enjoy Italy’s beaches again, though social distancing on the sand is required. Masks remain mandatory both indoors and outdoors in Italy, and distancing in public spaces is still important, according to the tourism website, which noted public transportation (on trains and buses) is operating at 50%.
We’re telling clients this is the year of the one country, one-hit wonder.
Ezon said he’s made a point of counseling clients about their expectations in Italy, reminding them that the country’s current vaccination rate remains lower than that of the U.S., and things there could change quickly. He also expressed some frustration with the lingering unclarity in Italy’s arrival testing and safety protocols, noting that the destination doesn’t seem to be all that interested at the moment in whether arriving visitors are vaccinated or not.
Still, Ezon said he’s happy to be sending travelers back to Italy, although he believes Europe is not ready to accommodate the country-hopping desires many clients have satisfied there in years past.
“We’re telling clients this is the year of the one country, one-hit wonder,” he said. “Focus on one country, and maybe go to a few different places in Italy. … That’s our advice, and we’ve been very stern about it.”
The Details
Italian Tourism Bureau
