Is tourism killing Venice? - BBC News 

it’s a double edged sword, tourism brings in money, but mass tourism ruins the charm of a place..

The big ships bring hardly any money because the tourists there sleep and eat on the ship. While the ships also literally destroy the foundations on the houses of Venice.

The problem is that tourism brings money only to CERTAIN people within Venice. People outside Venice seem to mistakenly think that Venetians should be thankful for the money influx entailed by tourists, but this money is benefiting only some people. The locals here have to pay larger taxes and rent to continue their lives. Usually, when we go to tourist attractions, even mundane items like bottled water are expensive. The locals in Venice have to put up with higher cost of living wrought by tourists, while they themselves don't gain so much financial benefit if they don't work in the tourist industry.

My hometown is also a tourist attraction, I can understand the feeling of Venetian. We just miss the quiet old days.

Those large cruise ships should not be allowed there!

Put a cap on how much tourists are allowed per year and then sell the permits or licenses. Naturally the market will inflate the permit's value and raise probably the same amount of money but with way less tourists.

Very sad. Tourism run rampant indeed. Paris and London City are similar but they have the metropolis for most natives to live. Poor Venice is actually being swamped by the big ships too.

Clearly this city is beautiful. However when I personally went to this city I was blown away in disbelief. The massive crowds of pushy people and their selfie sticks all clambering to get a quick ride on a gondola. Not what I was expecting. Nobody is ever in the moment anymore. I do feel for the actual people of this city that have to deal with the craziness! I am sure in it’s hay day this had a much different vibe.

It's similar in Amsterdam. It's incredibly expensive to live there due to properties being bought just to be rented out for tourists. It's always crowded as all hell, to the point of there being instances of people calling the police because a shopping street was so filled with people that they couldn't exit the shop anymore (actually happened!). Excessive tourism is cancerous, it destroys otherwise beautiful venues. If I live in Venice I'd rather be poor as dirt and living in that 1965 portrayal of Venice than rich and living in that touristic mess. It just has no substance anymore. I will never go to Venice out of respect for the people living there

Wasn't Venice always a busy city for merchants and foreign people?

Build the wall! Make tourists pay for it! Make Venice Great Again! #MVGA

I think cruise ships should be stopped from using the Lagoon. Then subsiquently a cap on how many can visit at once due to smaller vessells causing traffic on the lagoon itself? The place needs to be cheaper for starters so it's citizens can still live there. Maybe if the people at the top distributed thier huge Tourism wealth fairly it may still leave room for people to actually live their idea of a normal life.

Venetians must be Happy now that Corona Virus has saved their city from these pesky tourists.

I’m going to Venice soon, and this makes me feel bad for the place. I’m going to try to be as respectful and responsible as I can

I guess their problem has been solved for now

I visited Venice in 2002, when it was still ok. I went back in 2017 and wanted to puke in disbelief. Granted, I was part of the problem. I decided to never go back there again. If I can be honest, the Asian tourists are by far the worst. They travel in groups of 40-50 people with guides waiving their 5 ft flags. Many of them are not even certified guides, and they don’t pay taxes on the money they earn there.

"When does Venice close?" that says it all about the perception of Venice from tourists. Wow... 🙄 It's not a museum it's a real city.

when I went to Venice this year I saw some graffiti saying something like "f*** tourists*

I visited venice last december and i love venice. no other place like it in the world today. so unfortunate that venice becomes overcrowded....wish the problem could be solved soon.

Mass-tourism and greed destroys everywhere nice. The same is happening to Amsterdam. It's overwhelming here. Please travel to other places instead.

Visitors keep Venice afloat, but they are slowly killing the city's distinctive culture.

Limit tourism, set guidelines on when and how many cruise ships can port a year. IDK...

It’s a disgrace, horror , Awfully polluted Venice . It’s a tragedy for history

I've been in both spring and winter and I vastly preferred the winter. Obviously around the main sights their were still a lot of tourists but it wasn't crowded, the locals were friendlier, and the mist that rolled in during the early morning gave the city an amazing atmosphere. If you're going to go, go then.

We went on a day trip to Venice in March and can I just say how hard it is to move around in the city. The amount of people there actually cause traffic jams. Definitely agree with the locals on this one ban the cruise ships

And some parts of Italy, very old villages are being transformed into vacation places for tourists since all the original settlers have passed on or moved away.

Just put a limit on the amount of people that can enter the city each day and charge a small tax fee to help pay for the repair of venice.

Grazie for giving me a good memory Venezia! I was obsessed with your beautiful colour of water. But I’ll try not to revisit you :*(

I just came back from Venice. It was so beautifully empty this time due to Corona virus (September 2020) No Chinese, no Americans, no cruise ship passengers.

Venetian want the tourist to stay atlist a week and feel the spirit of beauty not a day sitter and take a picture of the place and leave the city. Its must cruiseship to be totally ban

2:29 - 2:43 Most realistic words....

I was one of those tourists in 2017, but got sick and stayed indoors most of the time due to the heavy smokers. Modena was much more quiet and peaceful and Padova is a spot worth visiting with less tourists.

I thought Venice waterway is shallow but seeing such a big ship could pass through means it must be deep. I'm lucky that I live in a quiet beautiful non-touristic town as I hate crowded places. Besides I love natural scenic beautiful places sorrounded by mountains and that's what my place is. But since few years back many scenic beautiful places like park and waterfall are turn into tourist places, tourists started flooding the place and soon it gonna be busy crowdy place.

I just went there as a tourist and I can confirm that tourists have ruined it. Lol along with beggars in all the hot spots of Italy

Im from New York and Times Square is now a no go zone for locals it’s completely under tourist occupation

Venice is a unique place cos it's not like the majority of international cities which has a huge area of land and metropolis to accommodate many people. I'm from Amsterdam so when I'm in the central area I'm surrounded by tourists but when I go to the inner city then I'm surrounded by my fellow Amsterdammers so at least there's a balance and Amsterdam maintains its culture and identity.

Thanks. Good to know not to make it a travel destination. I guess its now like Times Square

Yes it is. I went to Venice two years ago and didn't enjoy it. There were just too many tourists everywhere.

I remember I went to Venice this summer and it was beautiful however there was wayyy too many people and half the things I wanted to visit I couldn’t because of the ridiculous lines. Now I know I’m being a hypocrite but honestly there wasn’t even enough space to walk around freely in areas around Rialto 🤷🏽‍♂️ the islands further off from the main island were very nice though because of how quiet they were (especially Torcello)

Im an Ex Tourism Industry Student and also a Intl Tour Guide, and this is makes me sad. Tourism must be balanced with social cultural life. This is very sad to be watch for a tour guide like me honestly.

Make Venice Great Again! #MVGA

I went on a day trip from Verona to Venice but the tourism made Venice basically impossible to enjoy. Plenty of the tourists were respectful, but many were really obnoxious, waving selfie sticks around - to the point where I got smacked in the head by one. Even in the Doge's palace where they'd banned selfie sticks, people were still using them. Very sad to see and I dread to think how difficult it must be to live there.

Tourism has brought negative impact on the locals, but don’t forget it also has brought a dramatic rise in its economy.

Fun fact! It is thanks to Venice that Constantinople is now Istanbul

Travelling 20 years ago and travelling right now feels totally different, many places had completely lost their charm due to mass tourism, a total shame

Been there for 4 hours and damn it was unforgettable

Tourism should be limited. It destroys the core of everything it touches.

That Venetian woman's English and her accent is just perfect! I am English and I would never have thought she wasn't English :O complimenti!

I mean what fun do you get by keep visiting there if the locals are not welcoming anymore?

This has been a great concern to me for a long time now, when i was last in venice, i noticed what a contrast in the influx of tourists, i rather say looked at photos that i took there in 1970 and wben i went back there, a few years later -1993? I was absolutely shocked at the increase ,the sheer numbers of people within that time span ,i could hardly move in the streets then, one of the troubles is these tourists come in very large groups nowadays and that really clogs the streets up!! poor vivaldi no wonder be rests in vienna!

It is ruining the spectacle of the true beauty of Venice, and its history

This the bad side of being the most beautiful city in the world

Yeah man, let's protest against people coming into the country spending fat cash instead of us just moving somewhere else. Definitely not going to hurt the economy...

As a local from Barcelona, I relate to this

Reminds me of Sydney. All tourist shops and tourist activities. Very annoying when i just want to have a nice time in the city. Tourists everywhere too, standing around taking photos of the harbour bridge.

Venice was already dead. It's more of a museum and tourism revitalized it somewhat but it's still an inconsequential city with little to no global power. If there was an actual economy in Venice and people chose to live there the tourism would not be such a big problem since the locals would outnumber tourists, just like in NYC.

Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia are some of the most visited destinations here in Southeast Asia. Those countries are experiencing the same situation.

of course it is.control the tourists coming and ban cruise line

Imagine having to surrender your own city of residence to shiploads of strangers who show up every day, most of them looking at their experience as another Disneyland ride. Venice is not big enough to absorb the huge crowds that come just to check off another line on their bucket list.

Bittersweet lol I wish I could live in beautiful Venice but apparently, it looks like they wouldn't want me...

yes

Poor Venetians! 😢

And who is to blame for the mess??? The tourists? Or the incompetent city council??? If Venice does not want massive cruise liners pulling into the lagoon, then the city council can simply ban them. I think it’s very much the case of wanting their cake and eating it too.. Please don’t take it out on tourists.

That is precisely why you are gonna pay more than 5 euros for just a slice of pizza in Venice

Yes

The good news is that Venice is now empty of cruise ships and tourists. Problem solved. Here's a hint, if you don't like tourists, don't market yourself as a tourist destination. Brilliant.

Lmao I have seen tourist they just run around the whole city with there camera, click some photo and hope on there ship to next destination, they don't buy, don't eat, don't stay what money are they bringing

It’s so true couldn’t find many supermarkets in Venice

Venice throughout its history was a bustling trade hub, it is now just going through its natural progression.

lived here for 2 years and moved on to mainland Mestre because it's too crowded and expensive

Do they have a tourist tax like Barcelona? Maybe set this at a high level to deter the sheer numbers currently going.

to BBC: the sound of a mandolin, as background music, has nothing to do with Venezia, but only a banal stereotype. As a quality television broadcaster you should know better.

it´s happening the same in my city (Lisbon). The situation is not out of control like in venice or barcelona but in some years, we will have the same problems if we don´t find today any solution to solve mass tourism. At 3 years ago, in the touristic area of Lisbon, you could drink a beer for 2 euros. Now it cost you 5 euros. Or have lunch for 15 years now it+s like 40 euros...

I feel like this will only stop, once the city is sunk and destroyed, but by then it will be too late.

What is the city saying now? Are they enjoying the Tourist season with less tourists?

I went on trip to Venice some parts of it were disgusting trash and bad smells broken things some places. Beautiful but sad.

Same situation in Amsterdam. The shops that used to provide the Amsterdam citizens with the basic needs (bakery, basic affordable good clothes, shoe repair, fabrics & buttons, etc.) have gone, because tourists don't need them. These shops have been replaced by fun & food shops for tourists. My favorite neighborhood market, the Albert Cuypmarkt, was a wonderful market where you could get everything. Now all the down to earth normal day to day stands have gone. The market is now an event for tourists. The museums have also sold their soul to the devil. They are not about art anymore! They are all about the museum shop & restaurant. I am a born and raised Amsterdammer. I used to go to the museums, but not anymore. I used to go to the city center, but not anymore. All the artists have chased away. The city replaced their studios with commercial art galleries (read wall decoration). There used to be this artistic free flow Now Amsterdam has become a cold, stiff and boring city. I feel detached from my home town. I feel not welcome anymore. Amsterdam is NOT a live-able city anymore. Groetjes from Amsterdam 🌷💛

But who wants to live in a city prone to flooding.

The real concern IMO should be more whether tourists are respecting the city they're visiting. Venice and many tourist cities are centuries old and you have to make sure tourists (who sometimes don't know any better) don't ruin the heritage and historical sites within the city. If you there's an overabundance of tourists, you might get that if not purely by accident (too many people in one place and they end up skirting the rules just to sneak a spot with a photo). Rules should be put in place to avoid scenarios where damage could be done to the site. The money tourists bring is moot IMO if the place ends up destroyed and you spend more money fixing it. As a tourist, I wouldn't be against curbing tourism numbers in the name of preservation (Machu Picchu for example has daily limits) or even to help manage the crowds more. Most tourists like to take photos and if it's too crowded it's impossible to do that anyways.

Make venice an expensive 7 star monte carlo type city and make a separate dock away from the main lagoon with tons of hotels and shops for cruise liners every venetian could be a multimillonaire with that amount of tourists

I had been to Venice in 2008. It was a great place.

Is this Venice, Italy?

This is also happening in Lisbon, Portugal. People who lived their whole life, even their past generations, are taken out of their own houses in order to tourists live there for holidays. Lisbon is a very populated place in Portugal, specially because it's where people find good jobs, but never in the past something like this happened until tourists came in a huge wave. The problem is, everyone just travels to Lisbon, Oporto and Algarve and it ends up being lots of people in one single city. And listen, to the American folks and even other countries. Our country is very very very tiny and our cities aren't big too...

So, if your population drops more than half, and you pull out the source of income (tourists) you would go bankrupt as a city

I love in London, but just outside the edge of the tourist traps

They should sack those cruisers as they did with Constantinople.

Unfortunately it does. Tourist hotspots often are cliche. Tourists have to start going to different places. There are much more beautiful different places in the entire world. It’s not just Venice, Barcelona and Paris...

All these changes are driven by the economy. Tourism has been the main industry in Venice. Runing businesses like street food restaurants and souvenir shops can be far more profitable than others in Venice. This is just like that factories are replacing farm lands in some developing countries.

Cant imagine living in a city like that

Nebraska would like the surplus tourists. Thanks

I feel guilty because I was at Venice at this year July

I was there last year, and venice looked like united nation.

Venice is losing its authenticity :(

I live in a tourist town and can’t imagine how depressed the town would be without tourists bringing revenue in

I can totally understand how the residents feel about this

The money left Venice and created Switzerland in 1291 and city of London in 1067 and Bank of England in 1696 then the fed in 1913 Wissel etc

Went a couple of years ago with Venice being the place in the world I really wanted to go. I hated it. So much tourism and so many people. Later on in the trip i went to Verona and I loved that. A lot less people and a lot more italian

I think people should visit Venice but the cruise ships should not be allowed to Dock there. Perhaps they could build a cruise ship terminal near the airport.

Solution: Restrict the number of tourists that can come throughout the year. Have wither a waiting period or a lottery-based system to that the numbers are reduced to a point where Venice is a domestic city again. Don't make the 'Venice Pass' expensive so that everyone can come but just in reduced numbers.

Yes.