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Its data will be better understood if juxtaposed with a similar counter marking the permanent inhabitant numbers
On Monday, 17 April, civic activists installed an electronic counter in one of the windows of a small Venetian bookshop called “Marco Polo”. The number on the counter reflects the number of tourist beds in the Lagoon City – currently sitting at nearly 48,600.
And if you’re wondering why this is important to show or if you think this is a guide to help tourists of the availability of accommodation in this popular destination – you’d be forgiven for your lack of understanding.
The e-counter data has to be understood in comparison to another electronic counter, also in Venice, which had been installed back in 2008. The older device shows the number of residents living in the historic part of the city. As of 11 April, that number stood at 49,365.
That’s right. It turns out that there are nearly as many tourist beds as there are local inhabitants in Venice. In other words, the activists behind the installation of the counter, want to raise awareness to two issues plaguing their beloved hometown – its depopulation parallel to its transformation into something akin to a tourist amusement park.
The bed counter is an initiative of the CIvicO Observatory on Homes and Residences (OCIO), a group that has been monitoring the housing situation in Venice since 2018, supported by Venessia.com.
To put things into a perspective, back in 2008, when the first e-counter was placed the local population numbered over 60,000, whereas the tourist accommodation could welcome only about 12,000 visitors. It is telling, how much and how rapidly things have deteriorated in only 15 years.
OCIO obtains the data to be entered into the counter each month from an application on the site of the municipality of Venice which maps the accommodation facilities in the municipal area.
All types of tourist beds are included: those in hotels and also those in short-term rental services such as Airbnb. The platform started its activity in 2008 and is considered one of the main factors that contributed to the depopulation of the city.
According to the data processed by OCIO, the historic city contains 61 percent of tourist beds in the entire territory of the municipality of Venice, but is inhabited by only 20 percent of the population.
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