Italian village offers free holiday accommodation this summer

A VILLAGE in Italy has announced it will offer free week-long stays for tourists this summer in a bid to entice visitors back after Covid-19 lockdown. 

The village of San Giovanni in Galdo lies in the Molise region, an area of Italy less discovered by tourists but named by the New York Times as one of the “52 places to go in 2020.” 

San Giovanni in Galdo is struggling with depopulation so the project named ‘Regalati il Molise,’ meaning ‘Gift yourself Molise,’ aims to utilise some of the houses currently lying empty. 

The scheme is offering 40 one-week stays between July and September in the traditional village surrounded by picturesque scenery, with the aim of bringing life and tourism to the area. 

Local activist Enzo Luogo, who dreamt up the project, told The Telegraph, “Due to decades of emigration from Molise, there are houses in village centres that have been lying empty for years. 

“These are beautiful but depopulated villages that don’t have any tourist accommodation to begin with, so we thought: how can we help revive our historic villages, while also encouraging visitors during these difficult times, when tourism is at an all-time low?”

Those hoping to snap up the free stay have to fill in a form explaining their reasons for wanting to explore Molise and email it to amicidelmorrutto@gmail.com.