Venice mayor proposes charging day-trippers
When you think of Italy, often near the top of the list of most popular tourist attractions is Venice, the famed lagoon city where you can ride a gondola through the various canals that serve as streets. However, something not many people realize about this city is it has many problems. Some of these problems include the city slowly sinking, the environment is being damaged, and cruise ships that come too close to the city. Another important problem that is often overlooked is the quality of life for the locals. The mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro, has tried to come up with a solution for “the city’s tourism woes” for a long time now, but has been accused of failing to do so, with over 125,000 people visiting Venice over Easter weekend.
Brugnaro’s latest idea involves only allowing locals to stay there. In an interview with Corriere, he says “the solution is obvious: those who live, work or have a place to sleep in the city can enter, the others must stay away”. His proposal includes making tourists pay a fee to visit the city and even closing the city off on crowded days, though it would appear this could be difficult to uphold. Seeing as these ideas have been under construction for a long time now, it is unclear as to whether or not they will actually happen.
Works Cited:
“Venice Mayor Proposes Charging Day-Trippers.” The Local, The Local, 5 Apr. 2018, www.thelocal.it/20180405/venice-mayor-proposes-charging-day-trippers-to-alleviate-overcrowding.