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“The Overwhelmed City”: Physical and Social Over-Capacities of Global Tourism in Venice

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  • Dario Bertocchi

    (Department of Economics, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, 30123 Venice, Italy)

  • Francesco Visentin

    (Department of Languages and Literature, Communication Education and Society, University of Udine, Via Petracco 8, 33100 Udine, Italy)

Abstract

Venice is one of the most famous iconic destinations and one of the most emblematic cases of overtourism affecting a historic city. Here, social movements against tourism have emerged as a reaction to vastly unsustainable tourist flows that have had dramatic and transformational impacts on Venetians’ lives. The aim of this paper is to investigate how tourism transforms the social, cultural, and everyday geographies of the city. The effects of tourism on the historic city are conceived as a process of continuous transformation and repositioning. Taking into consideration the most tangible daily practices of tourists (eating, sleeping, and buying) and the finer dynamics of Venice’s tourism problem, we translate data on these practices into a temporal and spatial analysis to better understand how dynamic the texture of the city is in relation to the tourism subsystem. A comparison between 2008 and 2019 is conducted to evaluate the impact of tourism on residential uses of the city and measure the sustainability of growth of the tourism facilities. The investigation highlighted an impressive accommodation’s growth, from 8.249 in 2008 to 49.260 in 2019 of bed places (497% growth) in the entire historical city, a similar expansion is also evident in the total number of restaurants that has increased by 160% in all districts and a variations of 4% in shops instead of a population decline of −13% in the same period. In addition, a residents’ survey in spring 2019 was conducted to better understand the intensity of these impacts and the motives for depopulation and the anti-tourism movements. We focus on how tourism, if not managed and planned, radically changes the social and urban structures of the city and the lives of local residents. We conclude by presenting some local theoretical and practical insights into the touristic pressure, provided by citizens’ associations on one side and policymakers on the other.

Suggested Citation

  • Dario Bertocchi & Francesco Visentin, 2019. "“The Overwhelmed City”: Physical and Social Over-Capacities of Global Tourism in Venice," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-19, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:24:p:6937-:d:294571
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Gutiérrez, Javier & García-Palomares, Juan Carlos & Romanillos, Gustavo & Salas-Olmedo, María Henar, 2017. "The eruption of Airbnb in tourist cities: Comparing spatial patterns of hotels and peer-to-peer accommodation in Barcelona," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 278-291.
    3. Alessandro Capocchi & Cinzia Vallone & Mariarita Pierotti & Andrea Amaduzzi, 2019. "Overtourism: A Literature Review to Assess Implications and Future Perspectives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-18, June.
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    6. María García-Hernández & Manuel De la Calle-Vaquero & Claudia Yubero, 2017. "Cultural Heritage and Urban Tourism: Historic City Centres under Pressure," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-19, August.
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    2. Kinga Stecuła & Mateusz Naramski, 2025. "Virtual Reality as a Green Tourism Alternative: Social Acceptance and Perception," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-30, August.

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