CNN Article--Venice

No perfect solutions for Venice. I have to wonder if they built a cruise port outside of the lagoon would that mean the limit on the size of cruise ships would no longer be enforced? Thus, larger ships and more tourists. I also wonder if the AirBnB issue is a more significant problem. One way or another, tourists are going to come; by land and by sea, but at least the ships aren't displacing the residents like AirBnB is.

I've almost stopped watching the PBS Masterpiece Theater because seeing the shot of the VRC ship hulking over the Venetian skyline makes my blood boil.

The sad fact is the overtourism is rampant, affecting all popular European tourist destinations. It's both quantity and quality. Of course, the quality of tourists is an age old problem:

“The gentle reader will never, never know what a consummate ass he can become until he goes abroad.” – Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad

A bit more info here. Had a long conversation with a young gondolier, he had some time off, of what he thought was happening to Venice. He hated the Cruise Ships and dis-liked the Cruise Ship Tourists. "They make me hurry, and one should not hurry in Venice." He pays 16 thousand Euros a year just to have a place to dock his Gondola, and can't afford to live in Venice. He lives, with his family, that had all been pushed out of the city, on one of the outer islands and has to commute on a Vapporetto each day. He still thinks he is lucky because they own that house. He supplements his income by working at the Brube factory. Brube's are the little, 15 footer, fiberglas outboard boats, that the locals all use. His Gondola was bought used and had 7 more years before he would need to get another. He is saving up, cause a new one was around 40,000 euro to make. He said he loved what he was doing, " I am a fish, I can not live with out water." But he also said, he didn't know if he could keep doing this, as every year seemed to be a little harder to make ends meet and that you don't want to be in debt, if you are Venetian. Something is really wrong with Venice if the most coveted job is a difficult place.

https://veneziaautentica.com/cruise-ships-in-venice-italy/

Every July I am in Venice for about a week. One of my favorite places is a cafe along the Giudecca Canal. I've become friends with one of the staff and it's always interesting to hear how things change or stay the same in Venice from year to year. Last year one of the cruise ships came by on it's way into port. He tells me that the ships pay a lot (can't remember but it's maybe 50,000 euro) to come in. That doesn't come close to repairing the damage that is happening at the bottom of the canal and also damage under the walkways. He says the tourists from the ship have their meals and beds on the ship so the restaurants, bars and hotels get nothing from them (maybe a little at a bar). The ships are either going somewhere else or coming from somewhere else and the passengers are very aware of how much room they have in their suitcases. So, they don't buy much and balk at the shipping costs (they want the Murano glass delivered broken?). His question: what good are they?

For me, Venice is not something I have checked off my to-do list. It is an experience, an environment, a journey back in time. When the wonderful staff at my favorite hotel greet me with: Welcome home Roberto!; and when the housekeeping staff have left a personal greeting on the bathroom mirror (how wild is that!?!); and I sit on the steps going up to Salute, I feel grateful that Venice is here. I also feel sorry for the thousands on each ship that happily put a check mark next to one more thing on their list. I have stories to tell. Not sure what they have.

Our experience is the same as Roberts, about ten or twelve trips to Venice, about a year in total. It’s a bit of fun when a couple of street musicians you first encountered eight years ago break into a smile when they see you walking up the calle.