An Italian island is paying for tourists to come and visit in new post-coronavirus scheme

A European island is offering tourists a very lucrative deal to entice them to visit once the pandemic restrictions are lifted – including paid flights and accommodation.

An island in Italy is offering to pay for half of your plane ticket, as well as a night at a hotel and your attraction entry fees in a bid to encourage tourists to return.

Sicily, located off the south of Italy, is attempting to lure foreign visitors back to the island after the lockdown ends on May 4.

The offers, first reported by The Times, will be available on the island's tourism website.
For every three nights you stay at a hotel, they will cover one of them, along with museum and archaeological entry tickets.

The Government will use €50 million ($84.6 million) to fund the scheme, with losses of €1 billion ($1.6 billion) reported from March and April.

Italy sees 13 per cent of its GDP from tourism and is keen to attract tourists once the pandemic slows.
It's hardly the first time the island has offered cheap deals to entice people to visit.

Last year, the towns of Mussomeli and Sambuca in Sicily offered houses for just $1.60 as local numbers dwindled.

The island is even compensating some visitors’ sightseeing to local attractions like these ancient ruin in Taormina. Picture: SuppliedSource:istock

The only catch was that new owners had to fork out up to $25,000 to renovate the houses within the first year of buying them.

The rest of Italy is looking at ways to restart the tourist industry after being the hotspot of coronavirus in Europe.

A region in Italy has even drawn up plans for tourists to use "plexiglass boxes" while relaxing on the beach to reduce the spread of coronavirus.

Il Ciak restaurant in Rome, Italy, is also trialling a new plexiglass separator to allow people to return to dining out again.

Italy has the second highest death toll in the world, with 25,549 fatalities from a confirmed case count of 189,973.

Hotels elsewhere in the world are offering guests free upgrades and extra night to encourage them to stay, as coronavirus causes bookings to plummet.