A beautiful Italian floating city-----VENICE, where made islands and connected by bridges and canals, attract more than 25 millions of tourists come to Venice annually, which is the 4 times of the Denmark population (around 6 millions). However the number of venetians falls precipitously because of the overcrowding and high living expenses.

 

“Entry Tax” cannot stop tourists coming:

 

More and more local venetians moved out from Venice to other Italian cities. Local citizens stayed in the island of Venice are around 53000, which is the one third as many as 50 years ago, according to the Historical Series of the Municipality of Venice.

 

To control the number of tourists, the city council levy an 3 euros entry fee, which are targeted to day-trippers. However, the number of tourists did not drop significantly.

The entrance fee will rise to between 6-10 euros from the start of 2020, depending on whether tourists come in high or low season.

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Mara Manente, a professor who specialises in Tourism Management in Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, said that “Entry Tax is a short-term initiative. It is not able to push the new process.”

 

 

"Is not about the number, is about the quality of tourists":

 

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A group of tourist stop on the bridge to take pictures.

(Photographer: Alice Wan/ DMJX)

 

Carta, a local venetian of a fountain pen’s shop owner, said that people come to Venice just for a few hours, less than a day. In his opinion, he thinks that people do not have time to explore the beauty of Venice because they remain in a group during their stays.

 

“Tourists go to museum because it is raining outside, ”Giorgio, a bartender in a local venetian bar, said, “It is not about the number of tourists, is about the quality of tourists. Some of them do not want to get to know more about Venice culture, they come for photo-taking and shopping.”

 

In spite of the large number of tourist visit Venice, not many tourists go to museum. A statistic done by Statista Research department shows that Doge's Palace was the most visited museum in 2015 with around 1.3 million visitors  among the 11 city museums operated by the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, while around 17 millions of visitors come to Venice on that year.

 

In the St. Mark Square, a group of tour just finished taking a group picture with a banner in front of the St. Mark Basilica , a tour guide said, “Now, I give you 15 mins to take some pictures in the Square.” Tourists from this tour spread out immediately in the square to take pictures.

 

Martin Wei, a Chinses tour guide from another tour, said, “What the tourists know is just a tip of an iceberg of Venice because we only stay here for 4-5 hours, include the boat-riding.”

 

A city built for tourists:

 

 

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There was a Venice Main Post Office before and now it has been converted into T Fondaco Dei Tedeschi, big shopping mall, where many high-class luxurious brands inside. The mailboxes are still hanged on the wall.

(Photographer: Alice Wan/ DMJX)

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Walking along the street in Venice, souvenir shops can be found everywhere.  They are selling some cheap keychains, magnets and masks, which not all of them are made of Venice. Those souvenir shops are selling similar products to each other. It is just like a “copy and paste”.

 

“We are family business. Those souvenir shops can sell fake masks which sale 1-2 euros per each but it should be stated made in China. Every store has to declare,” Leo, who is a local venetian shop owner of Golden Lion, a traditional home-made venetian mask shop, said.

 

“Emanuele Martinangeli, a venetian, said, “Whatever you need is gradually disappeared and be in substitute by souvenir shops or fancy chocolate shops and candy shops.”

 

Carta, a fountain pen shop’s owner, said, “There were some bakeries and different stores for people who are living here before, but it does not exist anymore because people do not live here.”

 

Near Ponte di Rialto, a luxurious shopping mall T Fondaco Dei Tedeschi was built in 2008. It was Fondaco dei Tedeschi, a heritage building built in 1228, and it became a Venice Main Post Office in the 20th century.

 

Micda Goltulli, a shop assistant worked in T Fondaco Dei Tedeschi, said that the 90% of the people who come to this shopping mall are tourists. He added, “Venice is a fragile city where it is impossible to live if no tourists come. Also, the rent in Venice is really high because of the growing number of Airbnb.”

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Promoting Italian local industries to save Venice:

 

Locals stayed in the island of Venice are around 53000, which is the one third as many as 50 years ago, according to the Historical Series of the Municipality of Venice.

 

Mara said that Venice is failed to develop into a sustainable tourism because the government cannot strike a balance between tourists and locals. Solving the problem of over-tourism is a long-term process.

 

Tourism, which is a main pillar for the income of Venice. She added, “If Venice just based on one economic activity----tourism, it is weak. If you don’t have the differentiation or you have a problem in the only economic activity, you will face a big problem.”

 

She suggested that the city government should develop some local industries, like craft and some creative industries. Venice should not rely on one economic activity to survive. Also, the local government should give some flavours to Italian to attract them to move back. When local people back, local shops will back accordingly.

 

Venice is not alone:

 

Over-tourism is a growing concern in Europe. Amsterdam (Netherlands) has been bothered by over-tourism for years.

 

In Amsterdam, 11 million visitors was recorded in 2005, it rises to 18 million in 2017.

 

“Enjoy and Respect”, a campaign aims at raising awareness of what is allowed and not allowed in Amsterdam, was promoted. At the same time, the city government tries to promote different cities in Netherlands. For example, the adjacent city of Amstelveen which is famous for its greenspaces, and Zandvoort where is marked as ‘Amsterdam Beach’. Therefore, it can spread the large number of tourists to different places , the tourism stress in Amsterdam will be relieved.

 

Moreover, to lower the price of housing in Venice, increasing the supply of housing is a way. The government can refuse licenses for new hotels and Airbnb or reduction in access for cruise ships. Then, the number of day-trippers will decreased and some venetians will move back because they can find houses easily in Venice.

 

Another method the Venice government can do is de-marketing. Government should reduce the promotion on some hot tourist spots and started to promote other places. Try to spread out the tourists to another places, so that Italian can get benefits from tourism and the culture will be promoted.

 

For the strategies increasing the “quality” of tourists, World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) suggested some ways in the Over-tourism report. Italian government can create and promote local city ambassadors to promote the historical value of Venice to the tourists. Also, the government should promote the art, culture and architecture value of Venice to provide new perspectives on the city and to the tourists.

 

If the government can make a balance between tourists and locals and promote responsible tourism, turn Venice back to a liveable city, so Venetians will move back to their home---Venice.