The beautiful European city where tourists have cleared out locals | World | News
One of the world’s most beautiful cities is experiencing a simultaneous tourist boom and population decline, leaving locals feeling like “strangers in their own home.” Venice, also known as the ‘Floating City’, welcomed a record 38.8 million overnight visitors in 2024, despite authorities introducing a mandatory nightly tax of €5 (£4.40) in the same year. While statistics for this summer are not yet available, the number may continue to rise as other popular holiday destinations also see a surge in demand linked to cheaper travel options and destinations going viral.
However, the city’s packed streets hide another distinct trend of recent years; The residential population has decreased and the figures in the historical center now average only 47,995. Venessia.com. Matteo Secchi, head of the activist group behind the tracking website, said only six of the 25 students in his school class remained in Venice. “From time to time I feel like a stranger in my home and I often wonder where I am,” he said.
Venice’s population has fallen to its lowest ever level since the 1950s, with more than 12,000 people leaving the city’s main island, according to Mr. Secchi’s research.
“Forty years ago the park was full of children playing,” he said i Paper. “Now you can see up to 10. That’s the main difference for me, the kids.
“Also, the shops are completely different. There used to be bakers, supermarkets… But now there are shops just for tourists and a lot of souvenir shops. There are also a lot of sweet shops around, and I really don’t understand it.”
Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro confirmed that the city’s tourist tax plan will go ahead in September next year, applying for 60 days between April 3 and July 26 (six more days than in 2025).
The city has raised €5.4 million (£4.7 million) by charging more than 720,000 day trippers through the scheme this year; A basic fee of €5 (£4.40) applied for advance bookings and €10 (£8.79) for last-minute trips.
But the mayor’s critics argued that residents were being driven away by high prices rather than tourist stocks.
Giovanni Martini, opposition council member of the Tutta la Città Insieme party, pointed out that the cost of living in Venice increased by 2.3% this year, placing it fourth in Italy in annual consumer price inflation, and warned visitors not to serve food above locals.
Others have cited Italy’s declining birth rate as a factor in Venice’s declining population, while Venessia.com has also noted that “internal migration” is the driving force behind emigration from central regions.
