Venice is Drowning … With Tourists

The Truth is Venetians do not want to live in Venice any longer as their population dwindles with tourists often outnumbering residents, partly as a result of cruise ship visitors as the mega-cruise ships’ tens of thousands of passengers spilling into its narrow streets and canals, this mass tourism is causing irreversible damage on the fragile lagoon ecosystem and is endangering the environment of the city and its lagoon.

Cruising into Venice Italy is one of those magical travel moments with views of the main island of Venice and pass by the Piazza San Marco, the main square and views of Doge’s Palace so you can see why so many people want to visit

This is not a new argument – the debate has been raging for 4 years as to whether cruise ships should be allowed in Venice Island, consequently Venice is trying to limit the number of tourists allowed into parts of the city at any one time with a proposed formal limit on numbers entering the entire city, the next step is likely to be a reservation system for entering St Mark’s Square, with a fixed number of entries per day.

In January 2014, cruise ships of more than 96,000 tons  carrying 3,000‑plus passengers  were banned from the St Mark’s and Giudecca canals. The Italian government imposed the ban because of the environmental damage ships do to the city.

Cruise lines respected the ban, which was lifted the following year.

Since then there have been a number of locals protesting about visiting cruise ships and the growing numbers of tourists.  In September last year hundreds of protesters took to the water in Venice to voice their anger about the number of cruise ships visiting the port and to actually try and prevent several cruise ships from entering the lagoon.

Plans for a new cruise terminal away from the historic heart of Venice have been proposed by the city’s port chief and construction of a new port for large cruise ships in neighbouring Marghera Port 3 miles from St Mark’s Square is being recommended

What do you think the answer is? Should the number of tourists be limited to save this ancient city? Is there ever going to be a solution?


About Me

Hello, Hola, Bonjour, Guten Morgen, 你好 ! I grew up in the 70s, I was educated in the 80s and had great fun working in a Cafe Bar and nightclub in the 90s. After my Halcyon years my bank manager and I decided it was time to get a 'proper…

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