Advertisement

Venice cruise ship saga will be resolved – but not until 2021

Hardly the red carpet – protestors greet a cruise ship as it enters Venice - 2016 Awakening
Hardly the red carpet – protestors greet a cruise ship as it enters Venice - 2016 Awakening

Relations between locals and tourists hit a new nadir in Venice this week. The latest pantomime villains? A group of Belgians who thought it would be a good idea to go for a swim in the Grand Canal.

It wasn’t. And amidst the ensuing backlash, the Venetian authorities announced that similar tomfoolery would from now on incur fines of up to €500 (£445).

It has been well documented by this newspaper why Venetians are sick of tourists, 28 million of whom pile into the city annually, pushing up property prices and pricing out locals.

A special kind or ire has been reserved for cruise passengers and their vast ships, which are routinely blamed for spoiling the views in the ancient Italian city.

Anti-tourism protesters voice their grievances - Credit: GETTY
Anti-tourism protesters voice their grievances Credit: GETTY

As well as organising protests, a local pressure group, the No Big Ships Committee, held an unofficial referendum last month, asking Venetian people whether large cruise vessels should be banned from the city’s lagoon: 18,000 people voted and 99 per cent said “yes”.

Galliano Di Marco, managing director of Venezia Terminal Passeggeri, understands the concerns of his fellow Venetians, but he believes cruise passengers are the “right type” of tourists for Venice.

“They don’t go swimming in the canals,” he told Telegraph Travel. “They are older, well educated and well behaved – they are good tourists.”

An animated and amicable man with salt and pepper hair and a greying goatee, Di Marco has the unenviable job of finding a solution to the Venetian cruise ship saga, which has seen some cruise companies axe the city from their itineraries.

“In 2013 there were 1.9 million cruise passengers visiting Venice, this year there will be just 1.4 million – we have lost half a million passengers,” said Di Marco, pointing out that cruise passengers make up less than five per cent of the total number of tourists visiting Venice each year.

“I live in Venice,” he added. “I recognise the beauty and fragility of the city and I want to protect it. I want to resolve this once and for all.”

With that in mind he has tabled a potential solution to the dispute that involves diverting cruise ships away from the Giudecca Canal, which runs through the heart of Venice, and rerouting them so they arrive through the back door.

A feasibility study is currently being undertaken by Danish-based Force Technology. The result of the study will be published in September and is likely to conclude that the back route is only possible if the canals there are dredged.

Venice - Proposed new cruise ship route
Venice - Proposed new cruise ship route

That’s unlikely to be an acceptable solution for some. In a previous interview with Telegraph Travel, Luciano Mazzolin, a member of the No Big Ships Committee, claimed the group was against dredging.

“We oppose any new dredging because it would be devastating for the environment,” he said. “The ships need to remain outside the lagoon.”

The committee did, however, back plans for a new passenger terminal to be built at one of the three entrances to the lagoon; arriving passengers would then be shipped to Venice proper.

Cruise passengers account for five per cent of the total number of tourists - Credit: GETTY
Cruise passengers account for five per cent of the total number of tourists Credit: GETTY

“Venice would lose its home port strength,” said Di Marco. “Also the cruise companies said they would never take their ships there.”

Ultimately, a compromise is in everyone’s best interest; estimates suggest the cruise industry is worth €250 million (£223m) to the local economy annually and supports some 5,000 jobs.

Di Marco is optimistic that he can assuage people’s concerns about dredging and reach a compromise with his back door route.

“We should be up and running by 2021,” he said, bullishly, though admits that’s the best case scenario. And the worst? Everyone sails back to square one. Again.

The worlds busiest cruise ports
The worlds busiest cruise ports