"On the climb to Livigno, atop the mountain pass before the road glides down to the village hosting snowboarding at the Winter Olympics, there sits a lonely customs checkpoint. Its guardhouse and gate are the only signs of an internal fiscal border within Italy, one that encircles the snow-blanketed valley and the duty-free status it has enjoyed for centuries. The tax exemption that makes Livigno a shoppers' paradise, paradoxically, has left it not receiving the full economic bonus from hosting the Olympics, at least in the short term."
"I'm not positive about the Olympics, because usually you are working more than double in this period, because this period for us was a high season. Now, this period is like our low season, said Olga Salari, owner of a toy story full of Lego sets. Olympic visitors, she added, don't even visit the shops. How bad has it been? Salari said she has already seen a 70% drop in sales compared with an average February."
Livigno hosted snowboarding events during the Winter Olympics while retaining a centuries-old duty-free status marked by a lone customs checkpoint. Hotels and restaurants reported heavy bookings and increased business, but many retailers experienced sharp drops in sales as accredited attendees, athletes and credentialed workers predominated. Access rules prevented day-trippers seeking tax-free deals from entering the mountain venues, and some shopkeepers reported sales declines of around 70 percent compared with a typical February. Business owners expressed hope for longer-term tourism benefits from global exposure, even as short-term retail revenue fell significantly.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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