As visitors returned to Venice this summer, officials say it cannot afford, for its own survival, to let the numbers go unchecked. To combat tourist overcrowding, officials are tracking every person who sets foot in the lagoon city. Using 468 CCTV cameras, optical sensors, and a mobile phone-tracing system, the tracking system can tell residents from visitors, Italians from foreigners, where people are coming from, where they are heading and how fast they are moving. Every 15 minutes, authorities get a snapshot of how crowded the city is - alongside how many gondolas are sliding on the Canal Grande, whether boats are speeding and if the waters rise to dangerous levels. Airport-like turnstiles are being tested to control the flow of people and, should the numbers become overwhelming, stop new visitors from getting in. The city is preparing to require tourists to pre-book their visit via an app and charge day visitors between three and ten euros, depending on the time of year.
Venice mayor Luigi Brugnaro says he aims to make tourism more sustainable in a city visited by 25 million people a year. But he acknowledges that the new rules are likely to be a hard sell and expects protests and lawsuits. During last year's lockdown, Venetians marveled at their city's narrow alleys for once without crowds of tourists; the lagoon waters made pristine by the absence of motorboats. Brugnaro said authorities had yet to decide how many people were too many and when the new rules would kick in, though they were expected to come into force between next summer and 2023.
