Venice puts up turnstiles to regulate tourists

World
Europe

The city of Venice, famous for its canals and elegant palazzi, has resorted to unusual methods to tackle the crowd of tourists thronging to its shores, by installing turnstiles to manage the flow of visitors.

Ahead of the May 1 long weekend, city authorities installed on Saturday two sets of turnstiles – near the main train station and near Ponte della Costituzione, both of which are key entrance points into the city.

These “will serve to stop or divert tourists in case of an exceptional influx into the historic city,” Italy’s ANSA news agency reported.

Tourists walk near Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy, August 3, 2017. /VCG Photo

The turnstiles remained open for most of the weekend but the move was still not to everyone’s liking: on Sunday, protesters took down one of the structures, brandishing signs that read “Venice is not a theme park!”

Locals have long had a difficult relationship with tourists.

Tourism is a key moneymaker for the city, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1987. But the influx of visitors has also sent prices around the popular destination city through the roof.

Piazza San Marco and the Campanile di San Marco in Venice, Italy, April 7, 2017. /VCG Photo

The local population – numbering between 50,000 to 60,000 people – is also dwarfed by the crowds of visitors swarming to the city every year, many of them cruise ship passengers who disembark for the day by the hundreds and thousands, but do not spend the night.

Cruise ships have been a particular thorn in the side of many Venetians, sailing into the lagoon – where they dwarf most of the historic buildings around them – and creating waves that experts say are eating away at the city’s already fragile foundations, causing it to sink even further.

This prompted the Italian government last year to ban major cruise ships from the historic city center.

A cruise ship passes in the Venetian Lagoon near Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy, June 18, 2016. /VCG Photo

The turnstile that was torn down on Sunday has since been reinstalled.

And the idea is already inspiring others to follow in Venice’s footsteps: the mayor of Capri, in southern Italy, has said local authorities may introduce similar measures to tackle overcrowding on the small island, another popular tourist destination.