ITALY –ย Selling or giving tickets by the organisers or the Municipality of the host city is something that is happening every year for obvious reasons of public relations and diplomacy. But the limited tickets available for the fans and the audience wanting to attend Eurovision 2022, and more specifically, the Grand Final, created public fuzz as 1,500 tickets were sold to politicians, officials and corporate executives, not allowing more audience (and probably international audience) to come to Turin and spend money in the city.
Due to the fact that tickets for Eurovision 2022 sold out in less than two hours on April 7 and the continuous increase of tickets via the Internet, the news that the city of Turin is distributing free tickets has upset the fans of the competition.
The Municipality has distributed approximately 1,400-1,500 tickets at various levels of municipal councillors, constituency presidents, CEOs and directors of large companies, institutions and other government guests by the municipal councillors (15 guests each).
At the same time, travel agents are protesting against the job loss, as there are many who will not be able to attend this year’s Eurovision. Many fans have tried and failed to secure tickets, which means they will stay home and lose revenue to Torino’s businesses, which are still recovering after two years of restrictions due to Covid.
The mayor of Turin, Stefano Lo Russo, spoke to Radio Capital defending this tactic, as a result of which the specific decision did not change:
I think it is normal for a city representative to be able to attend. I understand the controversy [โฆ]. The Municipality and the Region behave as always. I do not feel guilty for inviting the mayors of Milan and Rome and the top executives of the big companies. These events are extremely costly and should be a showcase as well as a public relations opportunity. These are my VIPs, along with the employees of the Municipality who work for the organization of the event. Any choice would have been criticized. I believe, however, that our choice was fair.
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