On the shores of the Grand Canal, crowds of tourists, armed with smartphones, jostled to catch a glimpse of carnival characters in elegant masks. The tourists squeezed in with daily commuters on the decks of vaporettos – water buses. “Excuse me, I have to push through!” complained an elderly Venetian, trying to find a place among the sea of strangers. Nearby, sanitation workers roamed the streets, carrying wooden sand and complaining about unpleasant discoveries.
For Venice, this is a sign of returning to normalcy. The pandemic period has come to an end for the city, whose residents both love and hate the tourists who spend $3 billion annually but leave behind 70,000 tons of garbage, urine-soaked streets, and sometimes even steal gondolas at night.
Plagued by destructive floods, Venice has built an engineering marvel – metallic barriers that can be raised and lowered in its lagoons to protect palaces, squares, and churches. Now, in response to residents’ concerns that Venice is becoming an glorified water park, this lagoon city that has been attracting fascinated guests since the Middle Ages is trying to become a laboratory for addressing one of modern tourism’s ailments: the notoriety of tourists traversing Instagram-worthy destinations from Savannah, Georgia to Hallstatt, Austria.
“We are finally doing something about mass tourism after 50 years of debates,” said city councillor Simone Venturini.
The 29-day experiment, originally set to begin on April 25 after a series of delays, would require day trippers to make reservations and pay an entrance fee for the main island of Venice. City officials point out that tourists around the world have long been paying entrance fees to museums, archaeological sites, and even churches, and popular locations solve overcrowding issues by implementing visitor limits or designated visiting hours. They claim that this system is a gentle version of that.
If the new fees prove successful – initially set at 5 euros, equivalent to $5.38 – the city will maintain them on specific days, especially during peak season when tourists can outnumber residents 3 to 1. Overnight guests, who already pay a tourist tax at hotels, will be exempt.
Another experimental measure, starting in August, will limit tourist groups to 25 people. This regulation was implemented after a ban on cruise ships from entering Venice starting in 2021, which prevents the flow of massive ships through the Giudecca Canal near the historic city center – although they can still dock in nearby areas. Venice has also banned the opening of new souvenir shops in main city arteries and new hotels require official approval from the city hall.
During one afternoon, video feeds reaching the police’s observation center showed crowds of tourists walking through narrow alleyways. A network of cameras and sensors helps the police monitor the crowds. In three screening rooms, officers are able to count the number of tourists in different areas and even assess where they might be from by analyzing the origins of their cell phone accounts.
Marco Agostini, the police chief, noted that in the previous 24 hours, pedestrian traffic near the famous Danieli Hotel was 17,752 people.
“If one place is too crowded, we can redirect pedestrian flow or close it off to avoid congestion,” he explained.
The number of overnight guests reached a record high of over 3.5 million last year. The number of day trippers – who spend considerably less money – amounts to about 10 million annually, although this figure may include people who visit Venice more than once. Meanwhile, the permanent population of residents on the main island of Venice has dropped below 50,000 people – fewer than the total number of beds in hotels and short-term rental apartments.
While the pandemic has affected global tourism revenue, it has also given the residents of Venice a glimpse of a dream world where their city is once again their own. Last year, as guest numbers returned to normal, the city also received a warning signal. UNESCO experts recommended adding Venice to the “World Heritage in Danger” list – a potential PR catastrophe for the mayor’s office. Reasons included the city’s inability to control mass tourism.
The UNESCO expert team ultimately gave the city another chance, partly to assess the impact of the new entrance tax and other official actions.
“But that doesn’t mean they are exempt from responsibilities,” said Peter Debrine, senior project officer at UNESCO, an organization dedicated to arts, culture, and sciences.
“I think the committee wants to see how these measures will affect the situation,” he emphasized.
Heritage defenders believe that the entrance fees for day trippers are too little and too late, noting that the entrance fee of 5 euros is lower than the cost of a cappuccino in St. Mark’s Square. They call it political “theater,” intended to create the impression of tourism restrictions and therefore convince UNESCO, without offending influential tourism-related business groups in Venice.
“We need to think about survival now,” said Jane da Mosto, a social activist who married into a family with roots dating back to the Middle Ages. “It’s not as simple as money.”
Some heritage defenders point to cracked, submerged stairs of ancient palaces as evidence that mass tourism – mainly the fleets of water taxis carrying wealthy guests – is causing structural damage to Venice, exacerbating the effects of tidal erosion and floods.
However, most activists say that undermining Venice’s social fabric and traditions is a much bigger problem.
City officials claim that they are trying to make major events, such as the carnival, less burdensome for locals by transforming it into a more “dispersed” celebration. Now, more exhibitions are held away from the main scene. To reduce crowds in St. Mark’s Square, organizers have also created FAQs about tourism in Venice.
Q: How does Venice respond to issues related to mass tourism?
A: Venice is attempting to address issues related to mass tourism through the implementation of various regulatory actions and ongoing experiments.
Q: What actions have been taken to control crowds of tourists?
A: The city has introduced new entrance fees for the main island of Venice and limited the number of people in tourist groups to 25. A network of cameras and sensors has also been installed to help manage the flow of tourists.
Q: What are the costs of the introduced fees?
A: Initially, the entrance fee was set at 5 euros (approximately $5.38), but the price may vary depending on specific days and seasons. Overnight guests who already pay a tourist tax at hotels are exempt from the new fees.
Q: How do Venice’s intentions impact the preservation of its heritage and structural issues of the city?
A: Venice is striving to protect its heritage through the implementation of fees and limitations for tourists to reduce overcrowding. However, some heritage defenders claim that mass tourism contributes to structural damage to the city.
Q: What measures have been taken to ensure a balance between tourism and the daily lives of residents?
A: Venice is trying to make major events more manageable for locals by restructuring them into more “dispersed” celebrations.
The source of the article is from the blog krama.net