The Italian lagoon city of Venice has long been battling the sheer masses of tourists. But after the introduction of a controversial entrance fee and the protests against the Amazon boss Jeff Bezos' luxury wedding the discussion has shifted. It is no longer just about the number of visitors, but about their spending power. The new president of the prestigious "Piazza San Marco" association, Setrak Tokatzian, sharply criticizes the fact that most tourists spend little. He describes them as "hungry people" who only share a portion of pasta or a slice of pizza and hardly contribute anything to the city's economy.
According to Tokatzian, this so-called "overtourism of the hungry" is leading to a crisis that is affecting not only local artisans but also luxury stores. Visitors, who often arrive by bus from the surrounding coastal campsites, buy cheap souvenirs from street vendors, while the stores selling high-quality crafts such as Murano glass remain empty. Tokatzian has a drastic proposal to solve the problem: a massive increase in the entrance fee for day tourists to 100 euros.
However, this initiative met with fierce resistance. Bruno Barel, First Procurator of the Basilica of San Marco, rejected the idea of a "Venice for the wealthy only". He argues that beauty should be accessible to all and emphasizes the democratic and cross-class values of the city. Venice's tourism assessor Simone Venturini also believes that the proposal is not legally feasible, as the upper limit of the fee is set by law at 10 euros. However, Venturini is open to a dynamic fee scale, in which the price varies depending on the number of visitors.
Meanwhile, the Procuratorate of the Basilica of San Marco has introduced an online reservation requirement and a fee of 10 euros to shorten the queues. This measure has shortened queues and given tourists more time to explore the city and shop. At the same time, there are repeated calls to promote local craftsmanship more strongly and to intensify the fight against counterfeit products.
The dispute over the right strategy highlights the city's torn nature: on the one hand, it is reliant on tourism, but on the other, it wants to preserve its cultural heritage.
