#Undercover tourist coronavirus how to

“But I feel for the staff at the cruise ship terminal who are now at home. “We no longer live in fear of the monsters crashing,” said Matteo Secchi, who leads the activist group, Venessia. But neither city has jurisdiction over the port and any form of control will have to come from central government. He also says the government should legislate against letting single rooms to tourists, a loophole that allows landlords to get around the law banning renting out entire apartments.Īs in Barcelona, much of Venetians’ antipathy towards tourists has focused on the giant cruise ships. Jaime Palomera, spokesman for Barcelona’s Tenants’ Union, wants the thousands of tourist apartment licences that were granted in perpetuity by the Catalan government in 2011 to be revoked. Other cities, including Amsterdam, Barcelona and Lisbon, have taken steps to curb the Airbnb phenomenon that has pushed up rents and driven residents out. “Owners of property that was rented to tourists have signed an agreement with the council and Venice’s universities to now rent to students,” said Mar. While the city is yet to devise any bold measures to manage tourism better in the future, some smaller changes are afoot. “This is a time for reflection,” said Mar. While tourists have been trickling back to the city since the coronavirus lockdown was eased, the majority travelling by car from Austria, Germany, France and Belgium, many hotels remain closed and those that are open are only about 30% full.

St Mark’s Square in Venice St Mark’s Square in Venice

In Venice, mass tourism has in recent years been seen as a threat to the city’s survival, but now the debate has switched to how it will pull through with fewer visitors. Barcelona, which has a population of 1.6 million, received 30 million visitors in 2019 Venice, 270,000 residents, 25 million visitors Amsterdam, population 873,000, welcomed 19 million tourists.

According to Janet Sanz, Barcelona’s deputy mayor, cities that have grown dependent on tourism are paying the price for having a monocultural economy and now the challenge is to diversify.Įasier said than done with the scale of tourism in these cities. However, good intentions are one thing, concrete proposals another.

#Undercover tourist coronavirus how to

“We want to have a sustainable visitor economy that doesn’t harm the liveability of our city,” said Heleen Jansen, corporate communications coordinator at amsterdam&partners, a non-profit organisation that advises Amsterdam on how to market itself. Xavier Marcé, the Barcelona councillor responsible for tourism, said: “I don’t want more tourists, I want more visitors.” “We’re a city in crisis and are trying to do something different,” said Paola Mar, his counterpart in Venice. Please donate if you can.Charles Bridge in Prague Charles bridge in Pragueīarbora Hrubá, of the Prague tourist agency, said the Czech capital wants a “different type of visitor”. Every purchase you make from us and every gift you give us, however small or large, will help us ensure that Amgueddfa Cymru belongs to everyone and is here for everyone to use. Put your best foot forward and start exploring! Stepping Out Support UsĪmgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales is a charity. With suggested routes and steps counted, what’s stopping you? You might want to explore the outdoors at the National Wool Museum, National Slate Museum and St Fagans, or delve deep underground at Big Pit, or wander the galleries and exhibitions at the National Waterfront Museum, National Roman Legion Museum and National Museum Cardiff. We all know that exercise, fresh air and discovering new things are good for our physical and mental well-being.Īmgueddfa Cymru’s Steps campaign helps you to explore as many different routes and areas of the museums as you like, count your steps, discover new things and take in some culture and history along the way! Or would you like to know how many steps you do on a visit to our Museums?