Venice faces possible UNESCO downgrade as it struggles to manage mass tourism

By COLLEEN BARRY
Associated Press

VENICE, Italy (AP) — The Italian city of Venice has been struggling to manage an onslaught of tourists in the budget travel era. The stakes for the fragile lagoon city are high this week as a UNESCO committee decides whether to add Venice to its list of endangered sites. A declassification would be an indictment of the city’s management of tourism, after it escaped a downgrade two years ago with a cruise ship ban. While Venice officials want to avoid the endangered label, budget official Michele Zuin said: “It is not as if we are slaves of UNESCO.” The UNESCO committee decision comes after official data released this past weekend showed that tourist beds now outnumber residents, and after city council voted this week to charge day-trippers an entrance fee.