Venice attracts more than 30 million visitors a year. Tourism provides a source of income for local governments but has angered Venetians who say the city is becoming overcrowded and the environment is being harmed.
In June, a large ship collided with a small tourist boat along one of Venice’s canals. The MSC Opera crashed into the Giudecca Canal dock after injuring five passengers on the smaller ship. Around the same time, another cruise ship collided with a restaurant built next to the canal.
The incidents have angered Venetians, who have called for a ban on boats entering the city centre. They say the boats have reduced the number of tourists by about 30,000 during the peak summer months. Of the 60,000 tourists who visit Venice each day, less than half stay overnight.
Venice – once known as La Serenissima, or the Serene One – has also suffered heavy damage in the past when the city's ancient wooden foundations were battered by the bow waves of giant ships.
Cruise ships will gradually be moved off their current routes, with a third of them docking at ports further away from the city next year, such as Fusina and Lombardy, Italy's transport minister, Danilo Toninelli, said.
In June, Italy's National Conservation Fund said Venice should be added to the United Nations list of endangered cities.
Mariarita Signorini, president of the Italia Nostra (Our Italy) foundation, which protects Italy's cultural and natural heritage, said cruise ships should be banned from the city's ports to prevent an ecological disaster. "Venice is unique and we cannot allow the city to be destroyed even more than it already is," Signorini said.
Venice and its lagoon are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but Italia Nostra says uncontrolled tourism and environmental degradation pose a major threat to the city's survival.
In February 2019, city officials planned to introduce a reservation system so visitors could pay for entry before they arrived. Officials said tourists – even those visiting Venice for just a few hours – would be charged an entrance fee of between 2 and 5 euros, but could rise to 10 euros in peak season.
And by 2022, the City Council hopes that most people visiting Venice will book tickets to the city before they visit, allowing the Council to monitor and control tourist numbers.
In 2018, officials in Venice also proposed a number of ways to eliminate “culturally inappropriate” behavior by tourists. In September, Venice decided to ban tourists from sitting on the ground, with fines ranging from 50 to 500 euros.
Local authorities are then considering banning tourists from carrying alcohol around the streets. The beautiful Italian city is reportedly considering fining anyone carrying alcohol after 7pm – even if it is in a sealed shopping bag. The proposed ban comes after complaints from locals that tourists are constantly getting drunk in Venice’s squares and public places.
Additionally, in early 2018, tourist-only routes to popular landmarks were introduced ahead of a holiday weekend to keep tourists away from locals. Tourist-only routes were introduced for tourists to St Mark’s Square and Rialto Bridge. All measures are in place to keep local lives from being disrupted by tourism.
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