Where is tourism leading ? This is the question addressed in the documentary “ Enough Tourists. Thank You ,” produced and directed by Christ Media in 2017 , adapted by Gianni Gaggini . It's a question posed not only by the reporter, but also by the mayors of Venice and Barcelona.
The number of tourists
People want to see beautiful things, especially tourists who choose their travel destination and leave expecting to return satisfied. If everyone wants to come to Venice at least once in their life, must there be a reason? Let's try to see the beautiful things about this city. The mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro , is convinced that Venice is one of the most beautiful and most visited cities in the world, and is not like a mass-tourism amusement park , where no one lives anymore, populated solely by tourists, as the mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau , claims, taking her own city as an example. Who is right? It's hard to say. Let's look at some data.
Venice has long since outgrown the mass tourism phase that Barcelona is currently experiencing. Since 1950, the population of Venice's historic center has been decreasing: from 175 inhabitants at the time to 55mila Today. The city is overrun by a dense influx of tourists, the exact number of which is unknown because only overnight stays are known, not day visitors. According to Petra Reski, a journalist and writer who has lived in Venice for twenty-five years, there are over 30 million tourists a year. But where does she get this information? The figure has been confirmed by the environmental association Italia Nostra which notifies that all those millions of tourists do not bring much to the city's coffers because they do not pay the City tax, due only following an overnight stay.
Change
Venice is one of the most popular tourist destinations, not only for its beauty, but also for the icon it has become, a must-see, especially for those coming from abroad. In the 1990s, the mayor Massimo Cacciari he focused on privatization As a strategy to give the city's gasping coffers a boost. Several buildings were sold to Chinese buyers, but also to Italians like Prada, Benetton, and many others. A move that has proved profitable for many companies. Petra Reski argues that the value of a building lies in what can be done with it and the ability to renovate it at will, not necessarily in accordance with protected building regulations. The law does not regulate what is permitted to be sold in buildings, and so this world heritage site is suffocated by an avalanche of merchandise of all kinds. The current mayor of Venice, in office since 2015, emphasizes that once a business is already open, it has constitutional rights, but it is possible to develop regulations to create, laws permitting, a specialty of sale.
Cruise tourism
Cruise tourism is another key factor affecting Venice's vulnerability. Passing cruise ships displace 30 square meters of water , pushing it toward the city, which is then sucked back in after passing. The large mass of water disturbs the seabed, jeopardizing the city's foundations, according to environmentalist Tommaso Cacciari, president of the NO Grandi Navi group, causing significant damage. It would be appropriate for large ships to use an alternative route and drop anchor outside the city. So what benefits does cruise tourism bring to Venice? It's not the Port of Venice that benefits, but rather a private branch of it, a SPA, which facilitates the passage of cruise lines and monopolizes berthing. The revenue generated is a mystery.
A global problem
Cruise tourism isn't just causing serious environmental damage in Venice; the Port of Barcelona , a partially privatized port, faces the same problem . In fact, the German Greens have denounced the worldwide lack of exhaust control systems for these ships. They use fuel oil that emits a hundred times more pollutants than a standard diesel engine. Barcelona's mayor, Ada Colau, says that mass tourism is a good thing, but it must be managed and controlled to facilitate coexistence between citizens , tourists , and the environment.
Who are the tourists?
Tourists are mere extras in a show worth billions. The winners of mass tourism are international consortiums and investors who are thriving on the shores of Barcelona, Venice, and other port cities. These cities are trying to save themselves from collapse. It would be logical to let the residents themselves decide, in the true nature of democracy , what type of tourism they want to welcome. But whether this is a feasible idea leaves many doubts. There are so many beautiful things, interesting and curious places, and tourists want to see them. Who can blame them?
Maggie Van Der Toorn
