Re: Is Tourism Killing Venice?
I have no issue with paying a tourist tax to enter Venice, in fact it is a potentially great idea.
It comes with the typical problem though. Who will actually get the money? Where will it go?
We must understand that the cruise ships who berth there for just a single day, have to pay enormous berthing fees for the privilege. I believe berthing fees for a day in the past have been around £80,000.
Venice purposely developed a huge new berthing area in recent years to accommodate more ships and to keep them around the back of Venice rather than around the primary areas near St Marks. It can take at least 6 large ships, maybe more. Those ships arrive just about every single day from a wide variety of cruise lines.
It's clear then that Venice is creaming in many £millions alone just in ship berthing fees but just WHO is getting that money?
Clearly it is not the Venetian people, and that's the problem. This is just more corporatism. The few getting wealthy at the expense of the many.
I fear that any Tourist Tax is going to go the same way. With the average cruise ship bringing say 2500 passengers and there being say an average of 4 ships in port every day then with a tax of £10 a person, that's a luvly jubbly £100,000 in tourist tax EVERY DAY they will make.
Somehow I can't see that money finding its way to the real people. The lion's share will surely be creamed off by authorities and government.
Already the vast majority of real Venetians have had to move out of Venice, which is pretty sad. I'd be very supportive of anything that would restore the balance but I have little faith in authorities to put the money where it is needed.