PRESS RELEASE

ITINERANT TOURISM ASSOCIATIONS
MET WITH THE MINISTER OF TOURISM,
MAXIMUM GARAVAGLIA

04/21/2021 – A meeting was held yesterday, Tuesday, April 20, between the Minister of Tourism, Massimo Garavaglia, and some Associations of the outdoor tourism sector, including the undersigned: ACTItalia, AIASC, APC, Assocamp and Promocamp. On the agenda, the strategic issue of the development of itinerant tourism in Italy in the coming years.

The Associations pointed out to Minister Garavaglia the great potential of itinerant tourism, proposing the inclusion in the Recovery Plan (PNRR) of a fund to be allocated to the creation of municipal RV parking areas, which-in Italy-are found to be totally insufficient to accommodate the large number of European itinerant tourists. The development of these hospitality facilities,” the Associations reasoned, “is essential to enable the expansion of RV tourism and allow the territories to benefit from the resulting positive economic effects. In addition, an extensive network of rest areas would be an excellent contribution to tourism development, even in the so-called “smaller” territories.

The Associations represented to the Minister the need for a reorganization of the tourism regulations-Tourism Code (Decree Law 79/2011), to properly contextualize RV parks, which to date are identified only as“mere support accommodation facilities.” They also asked the minister to help make regional tourism laws more homogeneous and favorable to itinerant tourism, so as to eliminate the bureaucratic and regulatory barriers that often prevent those who want to set up RV parks, as well as private operators in the agricultural, agritourism, restaurant and food and wine sectors, from accommodating RVs at their facilities. The minister asked the Associations to draft and provide “best practice” guidelines that can inspire regional tourism laws. Discussion with the regions can then be initiated on these guidelines. The Associations warmly welcomed the Minister’s request and pledged to draft and forward to the Minister in a timely manner a document containing all useful guidelines in order to remove regulatory obstacles to the establishment of private RV parks.

Another topic addressed during the meeting with Minister Garavaglia was the rules for moving around in RVs in times of pandemic. In case of yellow regions, mobility in RVs and caravans should be allowed. In the case of orange or red, however, it will be necessary to quickly implement what the European green pass provides. However, all directions will be better specified and confirmed during the next Council of Ministers meeting later this week.

Minister Garavaglia – expressing interest in the outdoor tourism sector – took note of the suggestions and requests made by the Associations and invited the Associations to continue their work with the common goal of promoting the development of itinerant tourism in Italy.