意总理敦促国民在本国度假 帮助经济复苏

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi urges Italians to vacation in their own homeland of "skies, sun and sea" in a new television advertisement aimed at boosting an economy struggling to emerge from recession.

It comes weeks after Berlusconi's government unveiled an unpopular 25-billion euro austerity budget that has sparked protests and helped push his popularity ratings to new lows.

The 30-second "Magic Italy" advertisement created by the tourism ministry intersperses shots of picturesque seas, sunsets and bridges with images of famous monuments and artistic gems.

"What you're seeing is your Italy, a unique country of skies, sun, sea, but also of history, culture and art," Berlusconi narrates over the images. "It's an extraordinary country, which you have yet to discover. Use your vacation, to know Italy better, your magic Italy."

This is the first time an Italian prime minister has lent his voice to an institutional advertisement and is aimed at boosting the economy at a time of spending cutbacks, Tourism Minister Vittoria Brambilla told a Wednesday news conference.

Italians are expected to spend about 14 billion euros on vacations abroad this year and diverting even a small slice of that spending back home would help, she said.

Berlusconi in the past has urged Italians to keep spending and shopping to help Italy's economy, which suffered its post-war recession in 2008 and 2009.

为刺激经济增长，帮助经济复苏，意大利总理西尔维奥•贝卢斯科尼日前在一则新的电视广告中号召意大利人在本国度假，享受意大利的“蓝天、阳光和大海”。

几周前，贝卢斯科尼政府公布了一项不得人心的250亿欧元的财政紧缩预算，这一计划的推出引发了民众的抗议，并使他的支持率跌至历史新低。

这一时长30秒的名为“魅力意大利”的广告由意大利旅游部制作，广告中呈现了意大利如画的海景、落日和桥，以及著名的历史遗迹和艺术瑰宝的画面。

贝卢斯科尼在广告中说：“你所看到的就是你的祖国意大利，一个拥有蓝天、阳光和大海的独特国度，一个有着丰富的历史、文化和艺术的国度。这是一个非凡的国度，等待着你去发现。度假就选意大利，感受魅力的意大利。”

意大利旅游部部长维多利亚•布兰比拉在本周三的一次新闻发布会上说，总理亲自上阵为机构广告配音，这在意大利还是首次，做这个广告的目的是在削减开支的同时刺激经济增长。

她说，今年意大利人海外度假的消费预计为140亿欧元，把其中的一小部分转到国内就能起到拉动经济的作用。

贝卢斯科尼还曾敦促意大利人多多消费和购物来帮助意大利经济复苏。2008年和2009年，意大利经济遭遇了战后首次衰退。

Vocabulary:

austerity: a situation when people do not have much money to spend because there are bad economic conditions （经济的）紧缩；严格节制消费

intersperse: to put something in something else or among or between other things 散布；散置；点缀

monument: a building that has special historical importance 历史遗迹；有历史价值的建筑

institutional: relating to a large organization, for example a university, bank, or church 机构的

divert: to make somebody/something change direction 使转向