UNESCO Says Venice Belongs on Its Endangered Destinations List
04.08.2023 - 17:51
/ cntraveler.com
/ Matt Berna
Venice has long been teetering in a delicate state, suffering the impact of over-tourism exacerbated by the effects of climate change. While the Italian city has desperately been installing measures to curb its list of growing issues, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is not satisfied with its progress, recommending that the city and its lagoon be put on its World Heritage in Danger list of sites that are “threatened by serious and specific dangers.”
The warning comes ahead of the UN organization’s 45th World Heritage Committee in Riyadh in September, where the issue will come to vote.
“Venice is a victim of its own popularity,” says Matt Berna, president of the Americas for Intrepid Travel, which publishes a Not Hot List to encourage travelers away from over-visited areas. “On any given day, tourists outnumber the shrinking residents… With the record temperatures, wildfires, and escalation of climate change seen this summer, there is even more urgency to save one of the most popular and fragile tourist destinations.”
Originally inscribed onto the World Heritage List in 1987, the city of bridges and canals spread over 118 islands had received a previous warning in 2019 when the most critical issue was that large cruise ships bringing in day-trippers were causing overcrowding in the ancient city—despite various forms of restrictions and bans on those ships. Later on, the city introduced other measures like daily capacity limits and entrance fees.
Earlier this year, the extremity of the varying sea levels were also on full display. After canals ran dry in February during a drought, Venice came under threat of flooding in May. The city was spared thanks to a new sea wall constructed to block out rising tides that had just been finished weeks prior.
Despite the efforts, UNESCO said in its report on the state of World Heritage List sites this week that “the reported achievements…do not reflect a significant level of progress in addressing the persistent and complex issues related in particular to mass tourism, development projects, and climate change, which are causing deterioration and damage to building structures and urban areas,” calling on “the State Party to ensure the utmost dedication and joint efforts of local, national and international stakeholders to address these long-standing problems in an effective and sustainable manner.”
The situation looks especially dire since there’s no time to play catch-up. The country has already turned into one of the biggest tourism comeback stories of the pandemic. “Italy is hot right now—literally and figuratively,” Kelley Louise, co-founder of Impact Travel Social Club says, pointing out that the country's inbound