During Week 11, we watched the movie: The Venetian Dilemma in class.
Venice is close to my heart. When I had the chance to visit in February, I just fell in love. It's no secret that Venice is vanishing more and more each year. This is due to the way it was built, but erosion from the boats doesn't help the situation. Many believe Venice was built to disappear one day.
During this film, I learned tourism is what keeps Venice going. This upsets residents of Venice because there is a abundance of mask shops, bars, etc. and a lack of day care facilities, family businesses, etc. From what I saw, Venice uses its money to further tourism rather than help its inhabitants. This is not the way things should be. More and more people are being forced to leave Venice when the government will do nothing to help them. I believe it should be the opposite. Sure, Venice is a beautiful place & should be of use for tourism; but even though tourism is it's main source of economy, it should not be put before Venice's own citizens.
Population(2009): 270,660
Tourists(2007): 2.927 million
Can we see what's wrong with the picture?
3. Alyssa Delvalle
My God. Would it be bad to say that I may become a tourist one day.......? I hate to add to the millions, but it is so hard to not want to visit a place that is so rich in history and has a picturesque environment!
11/30/12, 03:20 am
2. Krystle Tawil
I really enjoyed this little movie too and although I've never been to Venice, how these people who live there are being forced out is not right. I totally agree!
11/28/12, 05:30 pm
1. Gillian Hannum
I, too, love Venice, and it is a challenge. You have to get pretty far away from the tourist center (St. Mark's Sqare) to find businesses that cater to Venetians. There are very strict zoning regulations in terms of altering existing structures or building new ones because there is a desire to keep the historical fabric of the city intact. This poses a real challenge for other occupations and daily living. It is, indeed, like living in a museum. You might well find an interesting thesis topic focusing on Venice. Jan Morris (whose collection The World we'll read in the spring) has written a lot about Venice.
11/28/12, 11:44 am