The ski resorts in Italy are reopening with Green Pass and other health measures in place. The resorts hope the measures will prevent closures as they did last season.
Some of Italy’s biggest ski resorts opened for the new season on Wednesday. Covid Green Passes are necessary for using ski lifts, plus there are social distancing measures in place at entrances. Online booking is required in some areas.
Italy’s winter sports federation, association of chairlift operators and association of ski instructors agreed a protocol last month. The requirement for a green pass applies to everyone aged over 12 when accessing lifts.
Lift capacity is at 80% for closed cable cars and masks are a requirement in all “common areas”.
What are the rules for Italy’s ski slopes?
As well as closed cable cars capacity being reduced to 80%, there are a number of other rules in place.
Corriere della Sera reports that surgical-grade or FFP2 masks will be mandatory “both in common areas and on the slopes”.
Ski slopes must use lanes which “guarantee interpersonal distancing of at least one metre”. In addition, staff will be on hand to enforce rules and check for the possibility of overcrowding.
A recommendation is that ski passes should be ordered in advance on-line. Whilst that is not a mandatory requirement, some resorts such as Cervinia are making it so.
As with other areas of Italy, access to all indoor bars and restaurants requires a Green Pass for everyone aged over 22. Though not a requirement to enter hotels or accommodation, the pass is needed when accessing hotel restaurants and facilities such as spas.
Standard Italian rules on masks and distancing will also be in place at all businesses.
Resorts do not want a repeat of last year
Last winter most ski resorts remained closed. A last ditch attempt to rescue the season was made in February when the reopened late in the month.
The current rules are, of course, dependent on the health situation overall in Italy. Currently, the whole country is classified as “white zone”. However, if infections start to climb and regions become reclassified, this could lead to resort closure or further restrictions.
Travel to Italy
At the moment, if you are entering Italy from the EU or Schengen area, arrivals must have a digital copy of their health pass showing they have:
- completed their Covid-19 vaccination cycle
- or recently recovered from Covid-19
- or taken a molecular or antigen swab test within the 48 hours prior to entering Italy, with negative results.
Equivalent health certificates are also accepted from the UK, US, Canada, Israel and Japan for entry without quarantine.
Travellers entering from the US, UK or other list D countries, or who have been there in the past 14 days, also require a proof of vaccination or recovery AND a recent negative test result.
All arrivals in Italy also need to present a passenger locator form (dPLF). All official information on current travel rules to Italy can be found here.
Official information about the Italy’s current travel rules can be found here.
