Venice and the Impact of Overtourism

Seminar paper from the year 2018 in the subject Tourism - Miscellaneous, grade: 1,0, Fresenius University of Applied Sciences Hamburg, language: English, abstract: It is Easter Sunday 2018 and there are 125,000 visitors in Venice, a number that the country of Bangladesh welcomes annually.
The increasing in cheap airfare has triggered a boom in the tourism industry. 2017 saw 1,3 billion international travelers, a growth of 7% over 2016. There are more people travelling around the world than ever before. Moreover, the way of traveling has changed from a few-day trips, including overnight stays in hotels and exploring the city and getting to know the locals, to day- or hour-long trips.

In the 17th century a trip to Venice was affordable by only the upper class of northern Euro-peans, who visited the city as a part of their Italian tour. Writers and artists were inspired by the magic of the lagoon city. The most romantic of cities, that is what visitors considered Venice and it has that reputation still to this day. Tourism is the main economy of Venice and it offers a lot of job opportunities. But on the other hand, it is one of the most touristic cities in the world with 30 million visitors annually, and that for a city with a population of 55,000. Tourists overflow the city, they are not concerned in supporting sustainability of the city and not conscious about the negative impact they leave behind. One could argue that tourism has become an issue rather than a resource for Venice. The natural environment of Venice and its residents are suffering from their popularity and the effects of overtourism. I would argue that all stakeholders in the tourism sector in Venice need to urgently act and start building a sustain-able future for the city. To withstand overtourism and to save the city and its inhabitants from extinction.

This essay outlines positive and negative impact of overtourism in Venice concerning the economy, the social sector and its natural environment. Additionally, it will provide a short illustration of Venice's history and the meaning of overtourism as well as solutions that Venice could implement and new suggestions to save Venice from overtourism.