In the past decade, the number of beds available to visitors has grown from 14,000 to a 26,000 while the occupancy rate has dropped to a mere 50 percent. Anna Somers Cocks, the chairman of the UK’s Venice In Peril Fund, believes selling the buildings that line the Grand Canal to research institutes can help Venice and its tourist-based economy to avoid turning into a ghost town with too many hotels.
"Selling off the palaces is an ad hoc strategy driven by panic," Cocks told The Telegraph. "It's like auctioning the family silver instead of sorting out your estate. It's very recent – it's all happened in the last five years or so. We think it would be much better to offer some of the palazzos to research institutes, for instance."
If research institutes move in and take on the economic burden of maintaining the buildings, Venice has a chance of profiting from the revenue that the institutes would inevitably bring in. Extra money is something the canal rich city is in desperate need of since most of the city’s revenue is delegated to flood prevention. -- Shakira Mongul
4 comments:
Well, I hope someone is listening to Cocks. Venice is such a national treasure!
Very nice pictures, i love Venice.
I too hope that they find another solution other than allowing the palaces to be turned into hotels or worse. These buildings are a part of our history. They have stories to tell and things to remind us of. In many cases they are some of the first places our tour customers wish to visit. Our Venice tour happens to be very popular, mainly because of the palazzi.
I see little value in selling them off if what they become will not benefit the city over time. What is the point in having a city full of hotels with little of historic value for tourists to see?
I think that the buildings could be used for several functions that could still bring the city money - business & convention centers for example. Ms. Cocks' idea was also a good one. I hope that someone in authority will consider alternate options. It would be a shame to lose such culture and history for a one-time sale the would bring little benefit over time.
Turning
We really love historical sites and have been there (Venice) several times. It is absolutely true that the historical places are part of our culture and we wouldn’t want to lose them. So, we hope that they will be successful, to making a good decision.
Best Regards,
Post a Comment