Today we have the pleasure to meet John, from Ireland. John lives in Italy with his family now but still he cannot get used to the magic landscape and dreamy atmosphere of such a place like Venice.
As all travel agents know, Venice is a big draw for tourists and visitors coming to Italy and this gorgeous city offers a lot more than just exploring the famous Calli and living a magic moment on its romantic bridges. During the Carnival, Venice keeps getting a lot more attention during the Carnival celebration which involves the whole city and operators. Venice is among the top 3 destinations on the traveler’s bucket list when visiting Italy – and being there for the Carnival is felt almost necessary.
Although, Venice is experiencing a very important problem related to overtourism that led the Italian government to approve a new visitor tax to address it.
We may already have the big picture on the issue from the perspective of the local tour operators, and this is why today we want to hear what visitors have to say about this topic.
About Venice, mass tourism and experiential tourism
Hi John, thanks for being here with us! Can you please tell us more about yourself and why do you think Venice is a big draw for visitors?
J: Hello! Nice to be here talking about Venice – it’s such an amazing city. I think Venice attracts so many visitors because it is so unique. There is no other city like it in the world.
Overtourism has been a big problem for the city. What’s your point of view as a visitor? What makes overtourism so unpopular for visitors too?
J: I have been to Venice a few times. The amount of visitors can be really annoying, even for people like me who are there as a tourist and expect a lot of other people to be there too. Overtourism means the queues are always really long, there are crowds everywhere, and it means the locals are not that friendly because they are so stressed out and their city is overrun.
Being Venice totally packed during the Carnival celebration. Would you be up for different options to experience the city?
J: It would be great to visit Venice during Carnival and to have different things to do where there were maybe less tourists. It would be really handy to know about tourist attractions and restaurants and maybe even smaller parties in Venice during carnival that the usual tourist wouldn’t know about. That way I could visit Venice during Carnival but avoid the worst aspects of overtourism.
What criteria would you use to select your next experience in a city like Venice?
J: Next time I visit Venice I would like to experience it from a different point of view, to do something unusual, something that I myself wouldn’t think of doing in Venice! It would be nice to do something private, with a small group of friends maybe, in an out of the way place in Venice. That way I would get to see another side of Venice, and hopefully, avoid some of the crowds and crazy queues!
What type of experiences would you prefer to live in a city like Venice?
J: I would like to see some of the other, smaller islands, and do something connected with them. Maybe go on a tour of the other islands and get to know them because I have only really visited the “main” part of Venice that everybody knows. It would also be great to do something which brings me into contact with the locals – that could be very interesting.
How to offer a unique service in overcrowded cities like Venice
Experiential tourism is not only a far more sustainable way to start doing business with a destination: it is especially a way to improve the quality of the visit for the customers that will add anyway cities like Venice to their “must-see” list.
If you are still looking for trusted partners to develop your business in Italy. let us know: Artès is one of the leading providers in the experiential tourism sector in Italy.