this week… the mayor speaks out
this week’s issue of Buongiorno Venezia talks of:
- Mayor Cacciari says “go away”
- Venice, the crossroads of pseudo, neo, mock, quasi fashion
- Ca’ Foscari greets Harvard… in English
- Hostesses work their magic in the square
- Books that are worth their weight
If you wish to comment in public, please post your comments here below
For our readers’ convenience, here’s what our mayor declared:
NEWS: During a conference which took place last week at Lake Garda, Mayor Cacciari made some remarkable suggestions about his city. “Please say that Venice smells, that merchants are expensive; please do adverse publicity. In Venice, we have to thin crowds, not attract them. The tourists who arrive every year already number 20,000,000, and we are preparing for the Chinese tourist boom, which is a frightening prospect. In China, new tourist agencies have been opened by the dozen, and everyone includes tours to Venice. The municipality doesn’t get any benefit from this surge, and there are absurd costs for controlling trash and
providing transportation. Tourism, beyond certain levels, becomes
dangerous.” It was a very clear speech, leaving no doubt about the municipality’s dilemma.
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July 3rd, 2007 at 12:23 am
While I recognize that too many tourists can be a problem on multiple levels, I don’t understand the mayor’s statement that Venice doesn’t benefit from the masses of Chinese and other visitors. As someone who loves Venice (I’m coming next week) I leave plenty of Euros there each time I visit. Will someone please explain the mayor’s remark?
July 3rd, 2007 at 12:24 am
Re books sold in Venice by their weight, at the same price of cherries ! (Ref. July 2 Buongiorno Venezia)
I wonder how much cherry I can buy if I sold my recently published 5 books by weight ?
THE SECOND VENICE, SMALL MIRACLES, LIGHTNING AND A BOUQUET OF ROSES,
WISDOM IN SMILE and STOCKHOLM STORIES. All sold at major internet shops. (The last two titles will start selling after two months. ) Check the internet shops under my name :Askin Ozcan.
The Second Venice became No.1 among top rated books in ITALY MAGAZINE, for many months, leaving Juvental’s Satires in second place…LIGHTNING AND A BOUQUET OF ROSES contains the Prize winning poem THUNDERSTORM…Small Miracles brought compliments from H.H. The Pope
Benedictus XVI. The latter two, are just out- so I don’t know how many prizes or cherries they will bring.
July 3rd, 2007 at 12:35 am
Dear T.,
i wonder if there’s a way for me to comment here in public without risking to be denounced
(contact us when you are in venice, btw).
July 3rd, 2007 at 12:37 am
Mayor Cacciari’s “go away” message is futile; instead, no more daytrippers, sorry. To visit Venice, a minimum stay for tourists must be overnight. Also, no more cruise ships to dock in Venice itself. Once the Chinese tourists begin en masse, hotel and restaurant prices must sky-rocket, will be way too expensive for most people. Sad to say, “Buongiorno Venezia” will become “Addio Venezia” for all but the wealthiest. Regretfully,
Gail
July 3rd, 2007 at 2:59 am
Venice is unique and needs to be preserved for future generations. So unique solutions need to be investigated.
I would have thought it would be fairly easy because of the island nature of the old city. Charge a toll, incorporated into bus fares, for all passenger vehicles to cross the causeway. Similarly charge a toll to enter the Lido and on boats docking from elsewhere on the old town’s wharves.
Locals and their employees and guests would have a pass exempting them from the toll. So would hotels for their guests (loaded into the tariff), cruise boats and ferries and their employees. It shouldn’t be too difficult a bureaucratic system to set up.
That kills two birds with one stone - restricting visitors and funding restoration from the tolls.
I paid entry to see many other ancient and mediaeval sites; as long as it wasn’t totally over the top I would have had no problem with a reasonable entry fee. Let’s face it, I had already spent a significant amount just getting there and being accommodated - an extra 30 or 50 euros wouldn’t have been a significant loading.
They could even incorporate daily limits into that, with a maximum allowed over the known hotel/locals/ferries quota; similar to the limited admissions to places like the Alhambra, with visitors given the opportunity to buy in advance and spontaneous “drop-ins” discouraged. See:
http://www.alhambradegranada.org/guias/alhambraEntradas_en.asp
I bought my Alhambra tickets via the net; worked fine.
Just my opinion.
July 4th, 2007 at 9:23 pm
I posted the note about the mayor’s remarks on the Travel.Europe Newsgroup. Many replies, all saying it is an exaggeration and silly. No one really believes that Venice is too crowded (”when I was there it was fine” ), and even more so, no one believes that Venice would like to cut down on them ( “they love the money”). There seems to be no getting thru to them.
One problem is that the average tourist, intent on looking at things, tends not to notice the crowding as much as Venetians do. And when he does notice, he assumes it is just a thing of the moment and ” isn’t that fun!!”
It does seem very unfair, tho, to tax the overnighters because there is no good way tax the day-trippers.
July 6th, 2007 at 1:38 am
(thank you. it’d been nice if they’d replied here
July 7th, 2007 at 4:11 pm
A follow-up — looking back I realize that fifty years ago, when I first started visiting Venice as a tourist, I quickly adusted to the crowds ( as small as they were then in comparison) and tended to think the tourists WERE Venice — as much a part of the scene as the buildings. When you are here for only a few days it is exciting and fun. I did not become aware of the problems associated with them till I lived here. I have not gotten to the approach of the little old ladies who push and elbow and mutter, but I am on the verge many times. In fact, now that I think of it, I am more unkind to the pushy little old ladies in the supermarket than I am to the tourists.
Tell the mayor to start a sharp elbows campaign!
rjf