2G for winter sports leads to relief and disappointment in Italy

“Delicious, with the sun on your face.” At the exit of the ski lifts, in the middle of the Dolomites, Dutch tourists can hardly suppress their enthusiasm. The fresh snow crunches under their shoes. “Last year our vacation was canceled. This year we will make up for it twice.”

Although the Christmas holidays are over, the elevators are still full. According to Marco Pappalardi, marketing director of ski pass seller Dolomiti Superski, the season has been good so far. “During the holidays we had good numbers. And for the rest we see a constant number of people on the slopes. Not as many as before the pandemic, but it’s going well.”

As for Pappalardi, many other skiers will be added in the coming weeks. He expects more people to choose the Dolomites as the Italian government introduced a 2G policy for ski lifts this week. Only people who have been vaccinated or cured can therefore buy a ski pass.

“We are very happy with it,” says Pappalardi. “It is an additional guarantee for our customers that winter sports in the Dolomites are safe.”

Least vaccinated region

Even before the Italian government made the decision on the 2G policy, local governments in the South Tyrol region had already put pressure on it. Bolzano, one of the provinces of this region, is one of the least vaccinated in all of Italy. Less than 75% of residents over the age of 5 had their first shot there, compared to an average of 81% in Italy.

Local administrators feared that tourists would stay away, when South Tyrol’s economy is 17% dependent on them. In the end, they got what they wanted: since this week, a vaccination certificate is required not only on ski lifts, but also on public transport. Restaurants, cafes and gyms have had a 2G policy for some time.

With this measure, Prime Minister Draghi’s government wants to persuade people to get vaccinated. “Many of the problems we have in Italy are attributable to unvaccinated people,” he told a press conference on Monday.

But in the mountains of Bolzano, where German is spoken as much as Italian and where Roman authority is viewed with suspicion, the new policy is not going well.