That sinking feeling: why long-suffering Venice
is quite right to make tourists pay
Simon
Jenkins
The overcrowded city is leading the way with a tax on
day trippers. Surely other great European destinations should follow suit
Thu 25 Apr
2024 17.30 BST
Venice has
had enough. It is sinking beneath the twin assaults of tourism and the sea and
believes the answer lies in fending off visitors by charging them to enter. It
is not alone. Tourism is under attack. Seville is charging for entry to the
central Plaza de España. In Paris, the Mona Lisa is so besieged by flashing
phones she is about to be banished to a basement. Barcelona graffiti shout,
“Tourists go home, refugees welcome.” Amsterdam wants no more coach parties,
nor does Rome.
The Venice
payment will be complicated. It will apply at specific entry points only to day
trippers to the city centre, not hotel guests. It will be a mere five euros and
confined to peak times of day over the summer. This will hardly cover the cost
of running it. It is a political gesture that is unlikely to stem the tourist
flow round the Rialto and St Mark’s Square, let alone leave more room for
Venetians to enjoy their city undisturbed by mobs.
As any
visitor to Venice knows, large areas of it are empty of Venetians – the main
island has lost more than 120,000 residents since the early 1950s. Streets and
canals are boarded up. If the Grand Canal is lit up at night it is largely
thanks to Airbnb. The tourist district is small and jammed with 40,000 visitors
a day. Those who have taken the trouble to reach Venice will not be deterred by
five euros.
Venice
survived intact largely because its economy collapsed and the city realised its
future prosperity depended on its antiquity. As it began to sink in the 1960s,
writers such as Jan Morris and James Cameron reflected on their sad delight at
being the last generation to see Venice before it disappeared. Now the lagoon
has been dammed, but the sea is rising and the iron rods beneath the
foundations are rusting and rotting. At vast expense they must be repaired, and
it is only tourists who will pay the bills.
In Britain,
tourism is the growth industry that gets very little attention and still less
praise. Millions of visitors, overseas and domestic, come to London each year,
a number that is steadily rising. But its assets have to be defended constantly
from planners and developers set on demolition. In addition, there is little
tourist destinations can do to expand their “offer”. Their appeal is a mostly a
wasting asset. However, at least London has more space for all those tourists
than poor Venice, which has just a mile or so of central streets to satisfy 30
million visitors a year.
What is for
sure is that Europe’s tourism will last as long as it can guard its heritage.
Europe is still a treasure trove of humanity’s past, embalmed in historic
buildings, cultural quarters and old cities. Its appeal to the outside world
has barely begun.
Americans
have been the leading tourists in Europe for over half a century, with at least
43% of them having passports. Such documents are held by only 10% of Chinese
people and only 7% of Indians. If the numbers of visitors from even just these
two countries increase, as they were doing before the Covid-19 pandemic, many
of the tourist sites in Europe would have to find new ways to accommodate them.
The task
now is not so much to promote the wonders of Europe’s heritage as to conserve
and work out how to manage it. Venice is the first such challenge. Some 49,000
remaining Venetian residents cannot possibly pay for the salvation of their
city. Thirty million visitors to Venice can. The entry charge is merely a first
step.
How soon
other cities imitate Venice remains to be seen. In 2018, the Italian town of
Bagnoregio, in the Lazio region, parts of which are crumbling downhill, imposed
a charge on visitors to raise money for its rescue. It worked. One of the only
British towns with the confidence to charge for entry is charming Portmeirion
in north Wales. Despite being built by a modern architect in the 20th century,
it has become Wales’s most popular attraction.
If I were
Venice, I would be shameless. Visiting ancient places is a glorious indulgence.
Those who enjoy it should pay accordingly. Good for Venice for showing the way.
Simon
Jenkins is a Guardian columnist
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário