Tourism, 2.4 billion package in the PNRR

With the approval of the Recovery decree in the Council of Ministers last 27th, a new recovery and relaunch strategy for the tourism ecosystem is highlighted. From superbonus hotels to non-repayable aid, here is an overview of the new measures available to operators in the sector.

Parallel to the work on the 2022 maneuver, the government has dedicated itself to accelerating the grounding of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, with the aim of achieving the 51 objectives that Italy has agreed with Brussels for the current year. .

The first head of the Recovery decree concerns precisely tourism: a package that can count on 2.4 billion euros, but from which a financial leverage effect is expected to mobilize resources for 6.9 billion. 

The objective to be achieved thanks to these allocations is twofold: on the one hand we want to increase the competitive capacity of companies, on the other we try to promote a sustainable, innovative and digitalised tourist offer.

What is the super bonus hotels?

The most important portion of the resources is reserved for the establishment of an 80% tax credit - to be used in compensation or transferable - for the expenses incurred in order to improve the accommodation facilities, with interventions ranging from energy efficiency to elimination of architectural barriers.

Although this measure is known as "superbonus hotels", it represents a different instrument from the Superbonus 110%. The new incentive, in fact, represents a further opportunity for the relaunch of the sector, which shares the advantage of the credit transfer with the maxi-deduction to renovate the house.

Already at the end of last June, Minister Garavaglia had announced this 80% relief for hotels and accommodation facilities, also valid for other extra activities. "What we want to do is a decree that takes up the 110% concept, but extends it and therefore not only initiatives concerning energy efficiency, but also something else. For example, if someone has to redo the furniture, that's fine too. for that, and then we will extend the categories of energy efficiency, for example we will also include lighting ", explained the League minister.

Not just super bonuses, how grants work

Regardless of the tax credit, a non-repayable grant of up to 40 thousand euros is envisaged. This second incentive, which can be combined with the superbonus hotels, can grow:

● by a further 30 thousand euros if at least 15% of the intervention provides for innovation and technological digitization of the structures; 

● a further 20 thousand euros for women-owned businesses or businesses run by young people between 18 and 35 years of age; 

● 10 thousand euros for companies in the South. 

The maximum limit of the non-repayable fund - disbursed upon completion of the works or with an advance of 30% in the case of a bank guarantee - remains 100 thousand euros and in any case no more than 50% of the costs incurred for the intervention.

Tax credit and non-repayable contribution, the points in common

The two tools, which together represent the most important pillar on which the strategy for the relaunch of the tourism system focuses, will support the same audience of recipients: from hotels to agritourisms, passing through open-air accommodation facilities and businesses. of the tourist, recreational, trade fair and congress sector, including bathing establishments, spa complexes, tourist ports and theme parks.

For the superbonus and non-repayable contributions, the PNRR decree provides 500 million euros - of which 100 million for 2022, 180 for each of the years 2023 and 2024, 40 million for 2025 - under measure 4.2 of the third component in mission 1 of the Recovery Plan. 

For both instruments, the eligible expenses will be those relating to:

● increase in energy efficiency and anti-seismic requalification;

● elimination of architectural barriers;

● extraordinary maintenance, restoration and conservative rehabilitation, building renovation;

● construction of thermal pools and related equipment and equipment;

● digitization;

● design. 

Provided that at least 50% of the costs are dedicated to energy requalification, the recipients could also benefit from the subsidized loan from the National Energy Efficiency Fund, provided for by Legislative Decree no. 102 of 4 July 2014 and included in the 2018 Budget Law, to support the aforementioned expenses.

The other measures for tourism

Also in the Head of Tourism of the decree, the creation of a "special section" in the Guarantee Fund for SMEs is envisaged. This intervention, which will be able to count on 358 million by 2025, will support the competitiveness of the existing entrepreneurial fabric and the birth of a new entrepreneurship, in favor of young people and women who intend to carry out projects on technological innovation and environmental sustainability.

The text then continues with an item dedicated to the activation of a Fund with the participation of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) and the European Investment Bank (EIB). The resources allocated to the instrument are equal to 500 million euros, an endowment which, according to the Ministry of Tourism, should guarantee a leverage effect involving private capital for about 1.5 billion. The actions of the Fund will be aimed at the modernization of the accommodation facilities, at interventions for the mountains, at the support of sustainable mobility companies, and at the development of new tourist itineraries.

The Recovery decree also allocates 180 million euros for non-repayable grants and the activation of a revolving Fund of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) for the modernization of structures, the elimination of architectural barriers and environmental requalification.

The last piece in the text of the decree is worth 98 million euros and consists in the assignment of contributions to support the digitization of the service and the tourist offer. For this reason, a tax credit equal to 50% of the costs incurred by tour operators and travel agencies for the digital transition of services is envisaged, within the limit of 25 thousand euros of expenditure, from web portals to automation for reservations and sale of accommodation. and overnight stays. 

To the measures approved with the decree to accelerate the PNRR, an action is added that will be approved with a future administrative act. This is the allocation of 150 million for the establishment of the National Tourism Fund, managed with CDP, to strengthen accommodation facilities and enhance real estate assets.

Digital Tourism Hub and Caput Mundi Project

The chapter worth over 1.7 billion is flanked by two important items in the overall investment strategy based on the PNRR for tourism.

One is related to the activation of the Digital Tourism Hub, that is to say an integrated tourist platform to aggregate online and enhance the national tourism offer. To define the details of the measure, which will have 114 million available, a future administrative act will be needed.

The other item, worth 500 million, will be dedicated to the Caput Mundi project to enhance the archaeological, tourist and cultural heritage of Rome and Lazio in view of the 2025 Jubilee. Six lines of action are planned to improve, restore and restore to the public monuments also present in the more peripheral areas of the city.