The country’s prime minister Mario Draghi said Italy was preparing to introduce its own tourism pass in the next few weeks ahead of a planned EU-wide health pass designed to resume tourism within the bloc from mid-June.

Draghi urged international tourists to begin booking trips to Italy this summer following a meeting of G20 tourism ministers earlier this week.

"Let us not wait until mid-June for the EU pass," said Draghi. "In mid-May tourists can have the Italian pass, so the time has come to book your holidays in Italy.

“Our mountains, our beaches, our cities and our countryside are reopening. This process will speed up in the coming weeks and months.”

Italy is planning to allow restriction-free entry to all visitors who have received an EU-approved Covid-19 vaccine, recovered from the virus or tested negative within 48 hours of travelling.

These rules will apply to visitors from all countries apart from those with very high current infection rates, such as India and Brazil.