Jubilee a disappointment for Rome's accommodations

(AGI) Rome, May 20 - The Jubilee is a disappointment for Rome's religious tourism sector. According to a survey conducted by the portal Ospitalita' Religiosa (Religious Hospitality), the number of overnight stays has been below expectations. However, all is not lost. Six months after the start of the Jubilee of Mercy, the non-profit portal interviewed about 300 religious structures in Rome that receive pilgrims, comparing the new data with those collected in January. Although the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelisation said that an impressive number of people from Lazio and the neighbouring regions visited the religious event, these returned home the same day. The number of accommodations that predicted an increase of guests for the Holy Year fell from 33 to 21 percent, while the remaining 46 percent were uncertain, as in January. Currently, 18 percent of structures said bookings were better than expected, against five percent in January. The figure is confirmed by a drop in those who view the situation in the past months as negative, from 56 to 11 percent. Cancellations related to security fears also had a negative impact: 68 percent of the structures had to deal with them (six percent in January), but most of the accommodations reported only one or two cases. The biggest problem appears to be the number of pilgrims arriving from abroad. The structures that expected a rise during the Jubilee dropped from 39 to 14 percent. The remaining 86 percent now expect the usual number of fewer tourists during the Jubilee. The answers collected by Ospitalita' Religiosa came 68 percent from structures directly managed by religious staff, 21 percent from religious structures managed by lay people and 11 percent from lay structures specialised in receiving religious groups. According to the administrator of the portal, Fabio Rocchi, "the feeling of unsafety created by the recent news about terrorism has a big impact, but there are encouraging signs for the next few months, when the good season starts." (AGI). .