«In Italy there are 6,700 tourist bus drivers missing»

Listen to the audio version of the article

The sector of tour buses such as road haulage: the drivers. This is certified by an Anbti Confcommercio survey conducted in collaboration with Isfort. In particular: they are 6,700 the tourist bus drivers who are missing in Italy, equal to 40% of the needs in Europe (about 17 thousand in total). In this regard, according to the survey by the Italian National Association of Tourist Buses (Antbi), it is necessary to encourage the entry of young people and foreigners, lowering the access thresholds, both in terms of costs and age, and expanding the training channels .

Slow restart

In tourism, activities related to transport represent 1% of businesses, but 10% of employees, 18% of turnover and 21% of the added value generated by the sector. Furthermore, in Italy the share of tourist transport by bus is higher than the European average (8% against 6%).

«The tourist bus sector – says Riccardo Verona, president of Anbti – has raised its head again after years of extreme difficulty, but the restart is still accompanied by too many uncertainties. Today more than ever, the support of the institutions is needed because we need aid above all for the sustainable renewal of vehicles, which cannot be supported only by our companies. Secondly, it is essential to find solutions to remedy the shortage of traveling personnel and at the same time proceed with the structural recognition, like other sectors, of the concessions on fuel excise duties. The time has come to recognize the uniqueness, peculiarity and flexibility of our service which is without limitations of any kind, nor of times or routes”.

Verona continues: «We are the wheels of tourism and we want to continue to be so with increasing quality and efficiency». The uncertainty factor, linked to inflation, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and the cost of fuel (price variation of up to 50% between 2022 and 2023), in fact, undermines the foundations of organized tourism, i.e. long-term planning: the costs and rates may vary from month to month. For this reason – concludes Antbi – strategies are needed to defend companies from excessive fluctuations in prices, especially of raw materials. Finally, the ecological transition in the sector, it comes up against the lack of technological solutions for mass tourism transport capable of ensuring autonomy and capacity.