Venice is a beautiful city

Venice is a beautiful, ancient city in the north-east of Italy. The city was built on canals and has always been a popular tourist destination. Normally, tourism is a good thing for a city. Hotels are full, restaurants are busy, bars are lively, shops are selling their stock and employment is high. However, tourist numbers have increased so dramatically over the past few decades that the city is really struggling. More than 60,000 tourists come to the city every day, but only half of them stay the night.

The biggest problem for Venice is the cruise ships. Over the past 15 years, there has been a 439% increase in dockings in Venice. These enormous ships dock in the morning and all the passengers pour into the city. They look at the old buildings, take some selfies, drop litter everywhere and then get back on the ship for the next stop. They don’t spend their money in the shops or restaurants and they don’t stay in the hotels, so they don’t help the local economy. The streets are too crowded and nobody puts their rubbish in the bins.

The city’s local population is getting smaller and smaller. Around 1,000 locals are leaving every year. Rents are getting higher, houses are getting more expensive and local people can’t afford to live there anymore. It is also possible that they don’t want to live there now because the city is too crowded and too dirty!