Venice, the spectacular floating and/or sinking city beloved of history buffs, romantic couples and uptight twink admirers, has had enough of rowdy tourists. The city is banning groups larger than 25 and the use of loudspeakers in public, with the new rules coming into effect in June.
Over-tourism is widely recognised as an urgent issue for the canal city, one of the most visited places in Europe. In September, Venice approved the trial of a €5 (£4.30; $5.35) fee for daily visitors. Elisabetta Pesce, the official with responsibility for the city's security, said the latest policies are "aimed at improving the management of groups organised in the historic centre". The city is just 7.6 sq km (2.7 sq miles) in size but it hosted almost 13 million tourists in 2019, according to the Italian national statistics institute. Numbers of visitors are expected to exceed pre-pandemic levels in the coming years.
Last year, according to one count, the number of hotel beds finally exceeded the number of local residents, who are leaving to get away from the overwhelming number of visitors. Next on the list, following similar measures in Florence and elsewhere, may be banning AirBNB-type listings and enforcing loitering laws to prevent "influencers" filming and bothering other tourists at popular sites.
I like the very Germanic-sounding solution of literally ruining the views:
in the Austrian Alps, the town of Hallstatt – said to have inspired the setting of Disney film Frozen – has built wooden barriers to block views in popular spots
