The Venice Blog

Once again, the tourist industry can celebrate a victory. Their propaganda machinery, in cooperation with international media, finally made the Italien lefty government put the planned tourist tax on hold. Guests would have contributed with up to five Euro a day, one per each hotel star, for the preservation of monuments and the maintenance of cities such as Rome, Florence and Venice. In reality, the introduction of a tourist tax in other cities and regions has never led to sinking numbers of guests.

While hoteliers’ associations and compliant blogs express their explicit and implicit relief, the City of Venice, which had already included 20 million Euro from the projected tourist tax in their 2007 budget, now has to take the sum from the ever-diminishing Venice residents — by bumping up the prices of waste disposal, i.e. of a facility, whose capacities are in large part absorbed by the 18 million tourists per year. More than a farce.

Bill Weidner, who already built the $1.4 billion casino complex “The Venetian” in Las Vegas, a dumb Venice replica with copies of the Ca’d'Oro and other buildings as well as several thousand hotel rooms, is currently erecting a second copy of Venice in Macau. Now, the very same Bill Weidner, who recently was in the real Venice for great dispense, wants to “deepen the cultural exchange between China and Venice”, and establish a “Chinese House” in Venice. In fact its’all about making money out of tourism and a immense new market. But his attempt to buy the 16th century Fondaco dei Tedeschi near the Rialto has failed. Now Bill is looking for another house to buy. Knowing the price of everything, the value of nothing.

Having had the opportunity to watch the annual historic regata (September 3, 2006) from some friends’ apartment in the piano nobile of a Grand Canal palace, and having finally had the time to scan the film (yes, I’m old-fashioned), I thought I share some pictures with you:

Gondola race