Come have sex, say these Italian hotels A

GROUP of Italian hotels is offering couples who “fall pregnant” while staying at their establishments a free night — which they can claim nine months (or so) after their stay, provided they have the proof.

Ten hotels in Assisi, the hill town in central Italy’s Umbria region and the famed birthplace of St Francis, have signed up for the initiative.

Dubbed the “Fertility Room” campaign, it is aimed at boosting Italy’s flagging birth rates — as well as tourism to the area following a series of devastating earthquakes this year.

The campaign was launched last week with the slogan Venite ad Assisi. Insieme! (Come to Assisi. Together!)

The participating lodgings are Agriturismo Basaletto, Agriturismo Casa Faustina, Agriturismo Le Mandrie di San Paolo, Hotel Cristallo, Dal Moro Assisi Gallery Hotel, Hotel Dei Priori, Hotel Fontebella, Hotel Il Castello, Hotel Windsor Savoia and Villamena.

All have agreed that couples who book a room from now until March 31 2017 and conceive a baby at their establishments will either be reimbursed the cost of their stay — or offered a second trip on the house.

Of course, they have to be able to prove the magic happened during their stay, which is to say they must produce a birth certificate dating nine months after their original stay.

The organisers will allow a 10-day window for conception.

The man behind the initiative, local tourism councillor Eugenio Guarducci, says the aims are to encourage travel to the historic region and to stimulate debate about Italy’s low fertility rate.

Italy has the lowest birthrate in the European Union and one of the lowest in the world, with only eight babies born for every 1 000 residents in 2015, according to EU figures released in July. Births reached a record low last year. Several factors are thought to be behind the decline, including economic uncertainty and high unemployment among young adults in Italy.

In late August, the area was also struck by a 6.2 magnitude earthquake, which saw the deaths of more than 300 people.

Representatives of the campaign say the idea “was born with the full knowledge that deciding to have a child is a gesture of profound love that should be encouraged, despite the 1 000 problems that life has in store”.

The campaign has, however, stirred up controversy with some claiming its sexual theme is incongruous with the ancient city’s historic and religious appeal.

As the birthplace of St Francis and the centre of much of his life’s work, the town is entwined with the Franciscan order he established. Its top sites include the San Francesco Basilica, his final resting place, and the 13th-century Cathedral of San Rufino. The Franciscan structures of Assisi were collectively designated a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 2000.

Local authorities have distanced themselves from the project, with mayor Stefania Proietti telling local paper Assisi Oggi there was no official link to the city administration.

And Claudio Ricci, Umbria’s regional councillor and former mayor of Assisi, said the region would be investigating the campaign in order to assess whether it was “fitting for the public image of Assisi and the promotion of the region”.

Also, couples enrolling in the scheme do not need to be married to participate.

Ricci said the “atmosphere” of the campaign appeared more suitable to Paris or the Italian seaside resort of Rimini, famed for its beachside nightclubs.