Shocking Images of Venice Show Out of Control Tourism

Shocking images revealed the impact of over-tourism on Venice, Italy, where throngs of visitors packed the streets over the weekend. The tourists could be seen standing shoulder to shoulder along the Grand Canal as they gathered for a parade that was part of the floating city’s Carnival festival, the Daily Mail reported. Crowding from tourism has become a massive issue in Venice. The city will introduce a tourism fee of 5 euros per tourist in a few weeks to help manage the congestion caused by 30 million annual visitors. After a successful 29-day trial of the “tourist tax,” the city will implement the fee from April 18 and July 27 every Friday through Sunday and on public holidays. Critics of the policy argue that it will do little to help reduce excessive tourism and will harm the city’s reputation, while its supporters say it’s necessary to because mass tourism has made living in the city difficult. On peak travel days, the tourist population can exceed the residential population of Venice, totaling over 100,000 people. The residential population is around 55,000.