"To Venetians' Sorrow, the Sightseers Come in Battalions," by Alan Feuer, appears in today's NY Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/10/in...ENI.html?8hpib

Mmmmm... interesting...and at the same time, I'd also not like a cruise ship showing up ... dumping off a couple of thousand folks ... all excited just for their one big day on Venice!
My take is tho, they still like the travellers who come in and stay for a while..

Apart from Ms. Mihaylova's rather cynical view of all visitors as pigeons, I think the article fairly describes Venice's double-edged sword.

Many locals were furious when the local government sanctioned the entrance of cruise ships nearer to the Grand Canal. The dredging of the Giudecca to accommodate these huge ships remains controversial and stirs up all kinds of talk linking this environmental fiasco to some of Venice's flooding problems.

I think Mr. Feurer's 70,000 figure seems generous (or may include areas not typically defined as Venice) but, even so, 70,000 people does not make much of a political lobby and Venice's resident's complaints often fall on deaf ears.

NYCFoodSnob, I read that article earlier today and wondered what you might have to say about it.

Your comments are right on target. What a delicate balance this great old city must try to maintain.

It always tickles me to hear that someone is thinking of me when I'm not aware.

Welcome back, degas (albeit, a bit more lower case this time). I'm happy to read you're on the mend.

The rarefied 24-hour citizens of Venice may wish to consider another, albeit essential invasion ... in this case the thousands upon thousands of people who commute in and out to toil away making that society function. The hired help, you see them clogging vaporetti. The figure 25,000-30,000 somehow rings a bell. I suppose if the tourists ceased their visits, the true citizens of Venice could return to favored pursuits, like throwing cats into the canals. Perhaps ships could simply dock offshore, and send in the cash via private yacht. I think I shall continue to visit and risk their ire and rising prices.

Venice, like the forests of the Amazon, is something of the proverbial canary in the coal mine for the state of the world.

With respect to the rules against undressing in public or walking around in bathing suits, I also note, with wry amusement, that the very European Venetians aren't about to let these rules be dismissed as either prudish or un-European. It seems the desire to have the human body displayed at a culturally-sanctioned appropriate time and place is, if not universal, then at least not exclusively North American.

Thanks NYCFoodSnob. Right or wrong, good or bad, your name is forever linked with Venice.

With that fame also goes great responsibility and stewardship. I'm sure you are up to the demanding task of properly educating barbarians and world travelers alike.

<i>&quot;...the human body displayed at a culturally-sanctioned appropriate time and place...&quot;</i>

Like the Lido beach?

Reminds me of this photo shoot I did with a drop-dead-gorgeous 20-year-old gondoliere who lives on the Lido. When I asked him to remove his shirt (we were in a hidden calle off calle dei Fuseri without a (live) soul around) he said, &quot;Are you serious? Venice is a holy city. I can't take my shirt off here. We have to go the the beach if you want to take that kind of picture.&quot; I thought to myself, &quot;I guess the city gets less holy as we walk east.&quot;

<i>&quot;Right or wrong, good or bad, your name is forever linked with Venice.&quot;</i>

Even without a finished trip report? How flattering.

I dunno about more holy, but it sure sounds like Lido beach was the place for some culturally-sanctioned.....drop dead gorgeous, you say?

Oh, those poor Venetians, sobbing all the way to the bank.

The most recent estimate of the number of people resident in old Venice is 63,000 to 65,000.

By the way, the population of Italy as a whole is shrinking as well. Unless something changes, current UN estimates predict a 25-30% drop in the population by 2050. Not to mention a drop of 100,000,000 in the population of Europe.

Japan's population is expected to drop by 14%. Contrary to this trend, the USA is expected to grow to over 400 million by 2050 primarily due to its more open immigration policies.

Of course, many things could happen between now and 2050 to impact these estimates.

Grazie for the link, NYC. I remember when someone had previously posted a link here to an article about those new tourist rules and regulations, although I seem to recall there being more than the six mentioned in this article.

As degas said, what a delicate balance Venice must try to maintain. The article put it very well: <i>The problem is that Venice is addicted to tourism, which accounts for 70 percent of its economy. As with any drug, however, the chance of overdose exists.</i>

How interesting that, among all the various guidebooks, the author chose to single out Fodors. <i>Mr. Gorghetto, a psychologist and native-born Venetian, spoke for many locals when he cursed the ugly Fodor's-toting horde that even now was passing by his window.</i> I guess the ugly tourist hordes don't only tote Rick Steves' guides, eh?

I particularly got a kick out of this comment by Gorghetto...

<i>&quot;The tourists come, they urinate, they defecate, and then arrivederci,&quot; he explained.</i>

...leading to a tourist re-working of that famous phrase as...

Veni, Voidi, Vanishi

capo
&lt;Veni, Voidi, Vanishi&gt;
you are the best!