Hill1

Taylor Hill
AP Language
12 December 2016
Tourism, Causing Damage to Venice
Walking the crowded halls of a school is not fun, especially when it is hard to do the
simplest task of getting to your next class. Venice, Italy is even more crowded than school
hallways, but instead of crowds of students its crowds of tourist. The crowds of tourist in Venice
have caused Venetians to become distraught about doing simple everyday task, so they demand
change through protest. The protests have the attention of the government, but Italys
government hasnt passed any regulations to stop the crowding of tourist in Venice. The need for
regulations on tourism is very important to save Venice from destruction caused by the tourist.
Venice is a small city in Italy, but it is a major destination for vacation for people all
around the world. There are about 60,000 tourists per day that travel to Venice, Italy exceeding
the Venetians by 5,000 (Rodriguez). The tourists have surmounted the Venetians making it
extremely difficult for Venetians to get around their own city. An UNESCO (the cultural group in
the United Nations) Official state, The capacity of the city, the number of its inhabitants and the
number of tourists is out of balance and causing significant damage to the city. Not only is there
a problem for the people of Venice to get around there is also damage to the city physically
because of the increase of numbers of people in the city.
The Venetians are fed up with the tourist and the government not doing anything to stop
the overcrowding of the city, so they have instituted protest against tourism, although it doesnt
seem to create solutions. The Venetians have been protesting against the cruise ships that come to
Venice. Protesters use gondolas and small boats to go against cruise ships (Haines). Not only

Hill2
have the people of Venice have protested cruise ships they have brought the protesting to the
actual city to get the attention of the tourist. Protesters have brought placards and banners to
Central Square in an event of an organization called Generation 90 (McGuire). Matteo Secchi a
Venetian has started the organization Generation 90 to go against tourism. Matteo Secchi
explains the use and symbolism of suitcases in the protest, The suitcases symbolize the fact that
Venetians are being forced to leave the city because they just cant afford to live here anymore,
(Squires). The people of Venice are serious and they believe the only way to save their city is to
protest.
Even though Venetians are done with the overcrowding of tourist in Venice, they are
more frustrated with the way the government is handling the problem. This is not a protest
against tourism, its a protest against the policies that the city has followed in the last 40 years,
says Andrea Castelli, a resident of Venice (Za). The people of Venice are looking for help from
the city and the government to save their home from the destruction of tourism.
Italys government has said they will have an action plan to lower the amount of tourism
in Venice, but its all talk and no action. The government is holding studies that will believe to
solve the problem, Dorina Bianchi, deputy minister at the Cultural Heritage department tells La
Stampa newspaper, The government is studying a strategic plan for tourism with the aim of
reducing the overcrowding of the most popular places and offering alternative
destinations,(Squires). One of the plans they have been studying is putting out warnings on
holiday booking websites, saying some places of Italy are going to be very crowded, especially
during the summer, and it may not be the best idea to come to such crowded place (Squires). The
government comes up with plans to help Venice, but never follow through. The Italian
government has proposed multiple plans, but always seems to go against and say the opposite.

Hill3
Nick Squires, a writer for The Telegraph, states, Cities like Venice have in the past flirted with
the idea of imposing a cap on the number of tourist allowed to enter each day, but have
concluded that such a limit would be almost impossible to implement. Instead, the government
wants to look at ways of persuading tourists to visit less well- known but equally beautiful parts
of the country. Instead of limiting tourism, the government wants to move tourism to other
places, causing problem of overcrowding in those cities.
Venice is having a lot of trouble with the government to place regulations on tourism.
According to the article As Tourists Crowds out Locals, Venice Faces Endangered List, In
2014, UNESCO gave Italy two years to manage Venices rampant tourism of the city, or the city
would be placed on another list- World Heritage in Danger. UNESCO have felt that the Italian
government is not protecting Venice, so the UNESCO put the government on a notice, which
says Venice will be put on the World Heritage in Danger list. UNESCO considers the entire city
a world heritage site, a prestigious honor that means Venice, at the cultural level, belongs to all of
the worlds people, (As Tourists Crowds). The UNESCO believes that Venice is a special place
to the world, but the overcrowding of tourism that is destroying the city needs to be regulated
and the government is not protecting the city.
Tourism is Venices biggest industry, which is a reason why the government is hesitant on
placing regulations on tourism. According to Christopher Livesay, an author at KPBS, the
primary industry in Venice, is worth more than $3 billion in 2015., and the primary industry is
tourism. Even the mayor of the city is going against regulations on tourism, Christopher Livesay
states, The citys current mayor Luigi Brugnaro has ridiculed UNESCO and told it to mind its
own business, while continuing to support the cruise ship industry, which employs 5,000 Venice
residents. The tourism industry does employ many Venetians, but it only employs them to

Hill4
souvenir shops, restaurants, hotels, and any other place that are needed for the tourist. Leaving
the people of Venice not to have opportunity to pursue other employment.
Tourism in Venice has caused several concerns for Venetians. Including the over
population of people and the complications the large crowds have on the city physically. The
people of Venice are protesting against tourism, because it seems to be the only way they are able
to get attention of the problem from the government. The UNESCO has forced a lot of pressure
on Italys government to save the city before the city is considered endangered. After the
threat from the UNESCO, Italys government started to study different ways to help reduce the
amount of tourist, but Italys government has decided to refuse any regulations on tourism,
because that is the primary industry for Venice. For Venetians the saving of their home is more
important than the money, but for the government the money is more important than the home of
their citizens.

Hill5
Works Cited
"As Tourists Crowds out Locals, Venice faces 'Endangered' List." 90.3 kazu. N.p., 25 Nov. 2016. Web.
29 Nov. 2016.
Bruno, Luca. "Remaining Residents of Venice, Italy Protest the Effects of Tourism." Skift. N.p., 13 Dec.
2016. Web. 30 Nov. 2016.
Cocks, Anna Soners. "How Italy Stopped Venice Being Put on UNESCO's Heritage In Danger List." The
Art Newspaper. N.p., 31 Aug. 2016. Web. 30 Nov. 2016.
Haines, Gavin. "Tempers flare in Venice as angry protesters block cruise ships." The Telegraph. N.p., 26
Sept. 2016. Web. 14 Jan. 2017.
Livesay, Christopher. "As Tourist Crowd out Locals, Venice Faces 'Endangered' List." KPBS. N.p., 25 Nov.
2016. Web. 30 Nov. 2016.
McGuire, Caroline. "We May Be the Last Generation to Live in Venice as a Real City': Venetians
Brandish Buggies and Shopping Trolleys in Protest over Mass Tourism." Daily Mail. N.p., 12
Sept. 2016. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.
Roberts, Hannah. "Italy's Cinque Terre: Will a Limit on Visitors Boost Home Prices?" Financial Times.
N.p., 23 Sept. 2016. Web. 30 Nov. 2016.
Rodriguez, Cecilia. "Venice Is Fed Up with Cruise Ships and Angry Protesters Are Blocking Them."
Forbes. N.p., 29 Sept. 2016. Web. 28 Nov. 2016.
Settis, Salvatore. "Can We Save Venice Before It's Too Late?" The New York Times. N.p., 29 Aug. 2016.
Web. 29 Nov. 2016.
Squires, Nick. "Italy Fears of Being Swamped by Too Many Tourist as Visitors Shun Crisis- Hit
Destinations like Turkey and Tunisia." The Telegraph. N.p., 18 July 2016. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

Hill6
"Venice #Venexodus Protesters Oppose Tourist Numbers." BBC. N.p., 12 Nov. 2016. Web. 28 Nov.
2016.
Za, Valentina. "Venetians pack their bags as tourism takes its toll." Reuters. N.p., 12 Nov. 2016. Web. 3
Dec. 2016.