160 LEGAL IMPACTS OF COVID-19 IN THE TOURISM INDUSTRY adopted2. This Decree was then converted into Law No. 13, dated 5 March 2020, a first provision that enacted some measures and restrictions limited to a portion of the national territory subject to the presence of at least one coronavirus patient. After this first legislative provision, several others followed due to the spread of the pandemic, which was initially limited to a few northern regions but which soon affected the whole country3. As mentioned, the measures taken, at first, were addressed to a small portion of Northern Italy; these were quarantine, the restriction to travel and to exit the region, the creation of the so-called “red zones” where the infection was at that time more aggressive. However, after a few days, given the particularly aggressive nature of such infection, we faced a situation where the whole country had to cope with a lockdown. This led to the consequence that touristic contracts could no longer be performed mainly for three reasons: Italians being prevented from going out of the region of residency; foreign countries preventing people coming from Italy to enter their territories and tour operators; and carriers cancelling their contracts due to the impossibility to perform4. The first sites affected by the spread of the infection were a few centres in Lombardy and Veneto, and, as mentioned above, under the Legislative and Prime Ministerial Decrees of 1 and 4 March 2020 – then replaced by Prime Ministerial Decree of March 8, 2020 – measures were taken to limit the spread of COVID-19 and the epidemiologic emergency management in Veneto, Lombardy and a few Provinces of Emilia Romagna; measures such as declaring these areas as red zones, i.e. restraint areas with severe restrictions to the mobility of people and subsequent consequences on the circulation of goods. Movement was permitted only for business needs, situations of need, health reasons. Schools shut down, school excursions and trips were suspended, as were almost every activity not considered as essential. According to the above-cited decrees, limitations to freedom of movement and, therefore, to travel were imposed to the following individuals: a) those who have been obliged to quarantine with active surveillance by health authorities; b) those residing or domiciled in the areas affected by the infection, the so-called 2 In the Italian system, a Decree-Law is a provisional act having the force of law, adopted in extraordinary cases of necessity and urgency by the Government. A Decree-Law must be “converted” into an ordinary Law within 60 days from its publication or, otherwise, it loses its effects. 3 The Prime Ministerial Decrees are dated 23 February, 1 March, 8 March, 9 March; 11 March, 22 March, 1 April, 10 April and 26 April; all of which implemented and extended containment measures and restrictions for growing number of activities and greater areas. 4 The present article is not intended to address issues of Italian general principles and contract law. Therefore, for a better understanding of the concepts of supervening impossibility to perform and the related remedies, see Cottino, L’impossibilità sopravvenuta della prestazione e la responsabilità del debitore, Milano, 1955 and Sacco-De Nova, Il contratto, Torino, 2016, among others.
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