Hit-and-run tourism is tearing the heart out of
Florence – there is a better way
Cecilie
Hollberg
As I learned from managing Michelangelo’s David,
visitors can be nudged away from the joyless in-and-out mission for selfies and
souvenirs
Thu 18 Apr
2024 08.00 CEST
Florence is
an exquisite city. Because of its history and its cultural heritage as the
cradle of the Italian Renaissance, it is unique, precious and very fragile. The
historic centre – a Unesco world heritage site – occupies a very small space.
The city’s 366,000 inhabitants are joined each year by about 11 million
tourists. Maintaining the characteristic dignity of the place and meeting the
needs of those who live here permanently while managing this volume of tourism,
is a great challenge and responsibility. For most of the year, Florence
struggles to do either sustainably.
To be
clear, tourism is an essential source of income and I am not opposed to
tourists. The problem is that many visitors are on a quick in-and-out mission
to take selfies in front of a few major sights – Michelangelo’s David,
Botticelli’s Primavera, the Piazza della Signoria – to show people at home that
they have been to Florence, while essentially trampling the city without
contributing anything.
I love
Florence and am saddened when I see how mass tourism is hollowing out its
ordinary commercial life: just as in attractive cities the world over,
neighbourhood stores in the centre have all but disappeared. What is left is
aimed at hit-and-run tourist groups, at visitors on the hunt for food, and
souvenirs such as magnets or aprons depicting parts of David’s anatomy.
Anyone who
has been to Florence in recent years will have experienced how its major sites
and the areas surrounding them are completely overrun and smothered. The city
attracts many different types of tourist – from the cultural visitor, to the
cruise-ship holidaymaker rushing in for a few brief hours. Most move along just
a few well-beaten paths: to the Galleria dell’Accademia, the Piazza del Duomo,
the Piazza della Signoria, the Uffizi, the Ponte Vecchio, and Palazzo Pitti.
But all of
this tourism must be managed, otherwise it stops being a resource and becomes
only a problem. And over the years Florence has gradually lost parts of its
identity as it has lost its citizens – fewer than 40,000 now live in the
historic centre, which is overrun with Airbnb apartments and eateries. Most
Florence residents feel profoundly frustrated by the impossibility of leading a
normal life in their city. Their precious jewel must be protected and not sold
off and compromised any further.
Since 2015,
I have had the great honour of directing the famous Galleria dell’Accademia in
Florence, best known for Michelangelo’s David. For years I have struggled for
legal copyright to protect David’s dignity against commercial exploitation –
and have had some major successes.
But the
problems I have witnessed both in the gallery and in the city at large have
also given me an opportunity to explore possible solutions to over-tourism,
considering the obvious, which is that we cannot enlarge the space.
When I
arrived eight years ago I got together with museum staff and we devised a
masterplan. We started with the museum’s relationship to the city’s
inhabitants, many of whom had become distanced from it, perceiving it as a
space just for tourists. To give the museum back to the city, we began
involving residents in its daily life, launching events for everyone, young and
old, accessible for free. Admission to the museum is also free every first
Sunday of the month.
I founded
an “association of friends” to reconnect the museum with people everywhere. We
looked at such issues as the quality of the visitor experience and orientation,
as well as seasonal distribution.
Visitors
used to crowd along a single trajectory heading straight from the entrance to
Michelangelo’s David, allowing just enough time for a selfie there before
exiting – mirroring what tourists still do in the city, trooping from the
Accademia to the Pitti Palace but seeing little else.
Today,
after much hard work, Accademia visitors find a welcoming, modern museum and a
high-quality experience. We have opened new galleries, put objects on display
that were not visible before and reinstalled others. Refurbished air
conditioning means we no longer have to close rooms in the summer heat. LED
lighting enhances each individual work allowing us to manage the flow of
visitors into every part of the museum. We no longer find them all just piled
up in front of David.
We have
reduced the maximum number in tour groups to make the visit more enjoyable for
everyone. New signage saves time and leaves people feeling reinvigorated, not
exhausted. David remains the star attraction. But now our visitors also look at
the other objects and give them the dignity and respect they merit. The museum
has found a balance.
Thanks to
these strategic choices visits to the museum increased by 42% between 2015 and
2023. Last year we exceeded 2 million annual visitors for the first time – not
by squeezing them in but by extending opening hours in the summer – late
opening twice a week – and having one main exhibition in the winter rather than
bunching them in the high season.
By breaking
down physical and cognitive barriers to encounters with art and culture we have
made the Galleria dell’Accademia a modern, accessible museum that promotes
diversity and sustainability. As a result, I believe that many of our extra
visitors are local people who were not previously regulars but have been
enticed in. We’re seeing a lot more younger visitors too.
In a way,
the Accademia can be viewed as a kind of microcosm of Florence. And I have seen
what a sustainable approach can achieve. Slower tours, smaller groups, better
signage and orientation, de-seasonalisation; distribution of visitors, longer
openings; these things have been transformative. They also benefit the city and
its inhabitants.
Eleven
million people every year want to experience Florence and they can’t be turned
away – they can however be managed, and in the process the city’s heritage can
be secured for future generations. However, my expertise and ability to act
begin and end at the museum door.
Cecilie
Hollberg is the director of the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário