Marshall Plan Help to the Airline Sector and its Impact on the Development of Tourism in the Italian Regions

In 1948, the U.S. government passed the Economic Cooperation Act, a four-year multilateral recovery program which also provided loans to industry to import modern American machinery and technology, which increased Italian productivity especially in the engineering sectors. For various reasons, the aircraft industry did not receive much support, the only substantial European Recovery Program (ERP) dollar loan to aircraft manufacturers was given to Fiat, many small private producers were refused a loan and, in general, most were left on their own and failed. The few survivors were either nationalized or started manufacturing something else. The aircraft industry, blooming in the 1930s as far as production and flying records were concerned, and supported by a clear-cut policy promoting the multiplication of airfields and clubs and the establishment of national and international air routes, “almost disappeared” from the national productive context after the conflict. As a matter of fact, we should also take into consideration that wartime destruction had reduced its capacity by forty percent and all aircraft companies were forbidden from accepting new orders until the signing of the peace Treaty (10 February 1947). These provisions obviously paralyzed their activity, while the government decided to import American and English aircraft to furnish aviation companies – LAI, Alitalia and ALI – in the meantime. That said, the weakness of civil aviation and the decline of the Italian aircraft industry did not delay the successful development of tourism. The endorsement of mass motorization and the building of road networks and facilities provided the means and infrastructure to allow Italian and foreign tourists to conveniently reach the most renowned central-north tourist destinations. Increasing tourist flows could well rely on affordable mass-produced motor vehicles and newly built motorways. As we shall see, this had two important consequences. As to the first one, or missed opportunity, the lack of Italian charter airlines left it to foreign companies to choose their targets of investment. They preferred to focus on already established destinations such as the Romagna Riviera and Rimini in particular, and the Veneto coast (for the seaside holidays), as well as the main cities of art as Rome, Venice or Florence. The second consequence was that Southern Italy was left out, which was too far and not so well connected by road transport and did not air trrepresent a priority for foreign charter airline companies at the time.