display
Venice (AP) - Nothing is going on on St. Mark's Square in Venice.
The tourist hotspot is a barometer for the number of visitors to the Italian lagoon city.
Venice's historic center should actually be full of tourists, but the corona pandemic has cast its gloomy shadow over the Unesco world heritage site.
It feels unreal, says Marco Gasparinetti.
He is part of a movement for the rights of citizens in Venice.
“The loud noises during rush hour have turned into relaxed tones like at dawn,” is how he describes the flair.
While some Venetians are happy about the break from mass tourism, many entrepreneurs, gondoliers and the self-employed worry about their future.
Before the pandemic, millions of people traveled to Venice every year to see the world-famous old town with the Rialto Bridge, St. Mark's Square and the picturesque canals.
According to its own information, the city counted almost 13 million overnight stays in 2019, i.e. before the pandemic.
At the beginning of March 2021, around 25,000 tourists were there on a Sunday - a number that is incomparable to a normal Sunday in spring.
display
Cruise ships in particular brought masses of travelers to the lagoon city, which was too much for many Venetians.
"Venice is not made for such high numbers of visitors, such large events and such large ships," says Gasparinetti.
A few years ago, resistance formed against the cruise ships, for example with the group No Grandi Navi (no large ships).
They criticize the flood of tourists and the pollution that the pots bring with them.
Their demands: forbid entry into the lagoon for cruisers of a certain size and analyze how much cruise tourism the city and the environment can handle.
On Thursday evening, among other things, the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Tourism announced that large ships should temporarily dock in an industrial port in Venice in the future.
In this way, a historical and cultural heritage should be protected not only in Italy but also in the whole world.
In addition, the problem of the passage of large ships in Venice should be structurally and finally solved with an ideas competition.
The corona-related calm before the onslaught of visitors allows many Venetians to enjoy their city again, but it is damaging the tourism-trimmed economy.
Hotels are only open “when needed”, according to the Venice Hotel Association.
Last year, their sales fell by 85 percent compared to 2019.
The hoteliers are ready for a corona-safe reopening.
The association hopes that tourists could come again to the boat exhibition and the architecture biennale in May.
display
Italy's government pledged aid for the companies.
But they are not enough, criticizes the boss of the famous coffee house “Caffè Florian” on St. Mark's Square, Marco Paolini.
His sales losses last year amounted to more than six million euros, with support from the state amounting to 120,000 euros.
Venice needs the tourists.
In any case, only a few ten thousand people lived in the center.
Nobody can survive like this, said the boss of the café, which looks back on 300 years of tradition.
Venice wants to prepare itself for the coming stream of tourists.
Together with Florence, the two flagship art cities in Italy want to make their tourism and local transport more sustainable and, for example, more closely control holiday apartments rented out online.
Marco Gasparinetti, on the other hand, would like Venice to gain more residents and create new job opportunities.
With the celebrations for the founding of the city 1600 years ago, which began on Thursday, Venice wants to attract tourists all year round - “including the Germans,” says Venice's cultural advisor, Simone Venturini.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210327-99-995747 / 3
display
Statement by Mayor Brugnaro on the founding anniversary (Italian)
Homepage for the founding anniversary of Venice (Italian)
Civic platform Gruppo 25 aprile (Italian)
No Nav Facebook page (Italian)
10-point map Venice and Florence (Italian)
St. Mark's Square webcam (Italian)
Statistics on tourism in Venice (Italian)