WHAT DO WE DO?
We’re working on what we chose to call ‘Venezia Autentica™’, its our attempt at ‘saving Venice‘ by saving the Venetians, leveraging the international attention and love for the city.
WHY?
Venice is quickly being killed by mass tourism and it is not possible to count on the public administration alone to change things fast enough. The existing organizations trying to save Venice focus on saving the monuments, the arts and are doing a great and important job at it, but no one is trying to ‘save the Venetians’. However, Venice without Venetians is not Venice but a theme park doomed to die as only the Venetians have the knowledge to maintain the city, its traditions, and its lagoon.
WHAT DO WE BELIEVE?
We’re convinced that working on two key factors could impact strongly the future of Venice:
– Keeping Venetians in business: Venetians are business owners since generations, they are losing their businesses having to sell to foreign investors, which leads to many of the below-mentioned issues (cf.: ‘What is the impact of mass tourism in Venice?’)
– Changing Venice’s Image: Venice is seen as a dream, as a fiction, as a museum, people do not realize that Venice is a city, the hometown of the Venetians and therefore the city comes treated like a theme park by millions of tourists every year.
WHAT WE KNOW
-Venice is not dead yet, there are still people and activities to be saved.
-Venetians are very few, Venice lovers are millions.
-There is a good share of the travelers who care about Venice and want to do their best to help the Venetians
-Concerns about Venice are being raised internationally but no one proposes a proactive solution.
HOW WE SEE THINGS
-If only 10% of the 30 000 000 people visiting Venice yearly know more about Venice, explore more areas, spend their money in the right places, the difference can be huge on the quality of life in the city, and the possibility for the Venetians to stay in business. This would benefit both the Venetians and the visitors since it would increase the quality of the stay – it’s a win-win
-If mainstream start seeing Venice as a living city, the general approach to Venice could change
WHAT ARE WE DOING ABOUT IT?
We’re developing tools to achieve our goals, making responsible tourism easy in Venice
Our goals are the following:
– Get the real Venice to be known and understood by the broadest audience possible, to impact the general perception of Venice and the way people treat the city
– Make it easy for people to support Venice and the Venetians, to impact the local economy and community
-Support the local businesses and the local community
-Improving the quality of tourism and the relationship locals-visitors, to impact the quality of life in Venice as well as the previously mentioned elements
Our main channels are:
-Our website, launched in September 2016
-Our Social Media, launched in October 2015. Our Facebook page, in particular, is very active and a hub for our conversations
-A trusted brand which is becoming a reference for quality information about Venice and impactful tools and is being listened to