Guess what? Venice is shaking things up for tourists once more! After tweaking entrance fees, the city is now eyeing how many tourists stroll in.
As per a chit-chat from BBC on Wednesday (January 3, 2024), the big shots are thinking of nixing loudspeakers for big tour groups. Apparently, the noisy gadgets are causing more headaches than joy.
And here’s the lowdown on tour gangs: the city’s capping them at 25 folks each. No more need for those blaring loudspeakers.
These fresh rules kick in come June. The goal? Venice wants to tone down the chaos caused by swarms of tourists flooding the city.
Mass tourism has become a real headache for the city of canals. The place surrounded by water is a hot favorite for Euro-trippers.
Back in September, Venice gave the nod to a cheeky €5 entry ticket for day-trippers. It’s like a backstage pass to keep tabs on how many folks are crowding the city each day.
“This move is all about trying to wrangle those organized groups in our historic city center,” spilled Elisabetta Pesce, the head honcho for city security.
Venice, spread over 7.6 square kilometers, played host to almost 13 million tourists in 2019, says Italy’s number-crunching crew. And brace yourself, because the visitor numbers are expected to skyrocket past the pre-pandemic levels.
But, the crush of tourists has the locals waving the white flag. Lots of residents are waving goodbye as the moolah from tourists keeps climbing.
You can see it in the surge of homes being rented out to tourists instead of being snapped up by locals. Beds up for grabs for tourists have ballooned to over 50,000, way more than the folks who call Venice home.
Back in July, smarty-pants at UNESCO suggested that Venice might end up on the endangered heritage list. Why? Blame climate change and tourists taking over the joint.
But, Venice said, “No way!” to that advice. They promised to give the tourism system a facelift. So, these new rules are Venice’s way of trying to save its city from being a total tourist takeover!
