Venice, new regulations for tourists: small groups and no loudspeakers

There is not only the entrance ticket. The summer in Venice brings another novelty on the front of the management of the flow of visitors: from 1 August new rules have been set in motion for tourist guides, who will have to observe precise rules on the numbers of organised groups accompanying them and on the means of "communication". No more loudspeakers reverberating in the calli with the sound of lectures in a thousand languages about the beauty of the Serenissima, and no more unlimited numbers of tourists behind the flag-waving 'ciceroni'.

The new rules had an immediate effect: yesterday too, hundreds disembarked early in the morning from the 'lancioni' landing on the Riva degli Schiavoni, between the Arsenal and the San Marco pier. They were mostly North Americans, who had arrived in the lagoon on the large cruise ships, moored far away, at Fusina on the lagoon's eaves. But waiting for them were the specialised guides organised according to the new regulations issued by the municipal councillorship for tourism, which set a maximum limit of twenty-five people per group. They were thus divided into small contingents and each provided with micro radio receivers, because the new regulation prohibits the use of loudspeakers by the guide - as was the case until now - and the obligation of audioguides over ten people.

"These are measures introduced for a better coexistence between the tourist use of the city and those who live it," said the Venice City Council's Councillor for Tourism Simone Venturini, who was present in St Mark's Square together with the Councillor for Commerce Sebastiano Costalonga for the first day of the experimentation. "The administration's commitment," added Venturini, "is to raise the quality of group tourism in Venice, limiting the stress caused by excessive pedestrian flow in certain areas, which impacts on the quality of life of residents and workers.

Among the new rules was a ban on accompanied groups stopping in places such as bridges or access ramps, causing obstruction to pedestrian traffic. Only three fines were imposed on groups of more than 25 people on this first day. The visit by the city council representatives also served as an opportunity to talk on the ground with the tour operators, many of whom were quick to adapt to the new regulations. However, the midday heat threatened to disrupt the plans of the first 'experimenters'. With the sun peaking over St. Mark's Square, a small crowd of exhausted tourists (mostly elderly) and their companions gathered on the little shade offered by the west side of the Doge's Palace, in search of refreshment, creating a momentary traffic jam with visitors under the portico waiting to enter the Doge's Palace.