Post date: Sep 28, 2012 4:31:10 PM
With each passing day it is becoming more and more apparent how little time we have left in the the term-- which is both equally exciting and terrifying!! There are only two weeks left, but it feels like the term just started. Although, in terms of all the work we’ve done, it is easy to see how far we’ve really come. We’ve completed two drafts of our proposal and are working hard on the next one. Currently, we’ve been sorting through all the data provided to us. We’ve been looking at some tourism data, and from what we can see, the number of arrivals in the city has nearly doubled in less than ten years! That seems so outrageous and it is mind-boggling to think that the residents of this city have to deal with that. I imagine it can feel a bit like this...
...trying to navigate through the sea of tourists. Not only does this affect the citizens of Venice, but the economy of the city as a whole. It can be argued the tourism is economically helpful, but not all the profits from the tourists go back into the city itself. Many tourists will not be purchasing things from local stores and most will stay at more upscale hotel chains rather than smaller accommodations. That is, if they stay the night at all, because many incoming tourists are also daytrippers.
It is also strange to think that in a few weeks we will be the tourists, but hopefully the more time we spend there, the less we will seem like foreigners. Our hope is to help alleviate the tourist problem, not contribute to it, because from what we have seen, the more tourists come in, the less residents want to remain in the city. We wish to keep the soul of the city alive.