(Finance) – More than two years after the start of the pandemic the Covid wound still weighs heavily on the world of entertainment: spectators collapsed by 72%, spending even by 78%. A red alert situation that affects all sectors to a certain extent, but above all the cinema, devastated by the cyclone epidemic although it remains the sector that attracts the most and which above all absorbs the highest share of Italian spending on sport and entertainment.
And if it is true that in the first six months of 2022 there are comforting signs of a recovery in consumption, 2019 is still terribly far away. To denounce it by recounting the “crash” suffered by the entire Italian entertainment system, is Siae with the photography offered by its yearbook, which this year comes out in a completely renewed form, and which Ansa has published in preview. “It is unrealistic to think that the pandemic will leave no trace” warns honorary president Mogol: “the challenge now is to seize all the opportunities for change”. Yes, but what to do? To restart, Mogol is pressing, shared by the general director Gaetano Blandini, it is needed now “a systemic vision and a shared idea of development to activate a real restart”. But also special attention “to creative works and their needs”.
Overall, the final data of the 2021 confirm the pandemic disaster, with the total number of spectators dropping from 306 million in 2019 to 84 in 2021, with spending at the box office collapsing from 2.7 billion euros in 2019 to 870 million euros in 2021. Of course, looking at 2020, an improvement there was. And yet, against a 26% increase in the number of shows on offer, admissions in cinemas increased by only 4.5%. A fact that undoubtedly makes you think.
To lose viewers is above all the cinema with -12%, followed by theater with -9% the same percentage of loss accused by the clubs that offer dance with musical entertainment. A happier situation is instead that of concerts, which in 2021, compared to 2020, mark a 75% growth. Traveling entertainment (+65%) and amusement parks also did well, with +42%, followed by exhibitions and fairs (+32%). Sport scores +18%but the total viewers, which is 8.3 million, is very far from the almost 40 million (30.9) in 2019