Sicily airport chaos puts Italy's tourism ambitions to the test

A fire early last week at Sicily's main airport is still causing massive disruption for visitors to the island, laying bare the disorganisation and poor infrastructure that challenge Italy's tourism ambitions. The fire broke out on July 17 at Catania airport, below Mount Etna, which acts as a hub for the east of Sicily and attracts more arrivals than the capital Palermo. The blaze, the cause of which is still being investigated, was swiftly extinguished and nobody was hurt, but in the following nine days thousands of disoriented tourists have complained of huge delays, a lack of information, and flights suddenly re-routed hundreds of miles away. Some disruption was inevitable, but visitors describe scenes of utter chaos that jar with the government's jaunty "Welcome to Wonder" advertising campaign, which aims to attract tourists using a computerised "influencer" version of Venus. Italy is trying to boost its appeal as a tourist destination, and a boom in arrivals this year has supported the economy as the manufacturing sector has struggled. Confused and infuriated tourists have complained of the airport's public address system breaking down and instructions being given by staff using megaphones, and only in Italian. The regional government says the situation is gradually improving, and it is confident the airport can return to full capacity by early August. Palermo, the island's second-largest airport, was also temporarily shut down on Tuesday due to nearby forest fires.<br/>