As Venice welcomes Americans back, can the "capital of over-tourism" manage a full COVID rebound?
Venice — The pandemic dealt a double blow to Italy's vital tourism industry. First there was the nationwide lockdown, and then as COVID-19 exploded across the U.S., a ban on Americans entering the country.
U.S. tourists have long been the biggest spenders in Venice. Now, for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began, Americans are back. Direct flights from the states to Venice are finally landing again.
Tabatha Watters and her family from Kentucky were among the first to touch down, and they were thrilled to be out exploring the world again.
She told CBS News correspondent Chris Livesay that it felt "amazing."
"We've been stuck in the states for almost two years," she said. "I'm about to cry."
The pandemic was particularly rough for Watters and her family.
"I lost a couple family members to it," she told CBS News. "My brother and a good friend. And I'm a nurse, so, it's been a really bad thing to get used to… Finally seeing the world get normal again is really good."
The feeling is mutual at Caffè Florian. Italy's oldest coffee house was left on the brink of bankruptcy during the pandemic.
Now Americans like the Watters family are helping bring it back to life, along with the newly-reopened "La Fenice" opera house. Named after the mythical Phoenix, the opera house, like Venice itself, is rising from the ashes.
But to some, the absence of hordes of tourists in Venice gave the ancient city a much-needed chance to breathe, and any return to "normal" should come with a few lessons learned.
Environmental scientist Jane da Mosto told CBS News there was a lot of potential to make life in Venice, "a whole lot better, not just for us, but for nature and other organisms."
When the tourists disappeared and the canal boat rides stopped, nature filled the void. Ducks, octopuses, even dolphins were seen in the Grand Canal for the first time in years.
But with restrictions now loosened, those days are over, and the tourist footfall is rising by the minute. With such irresistible beauty on offer, who can blame people wanting to come and see the city?
"Venice has always been called the capital of over-tourism," Lorenza Lain, of the Venice hoteliers association, told CBS News. To her, the solution is clear — she believes Venice should charge visitors an entrance fee.
"Venice is not Disneyland, it's a living city," she acknowledges. "But, as [with] other sites in the world, you pay to get in…. Let's limit the daily people."
Limit the number of cruise ships that pull in, too, she says. The hulking vessels not only dwarf the city, they've been known to crash right into it.
It's just one more challenge for Venice's leaders as they try to strike a post-COVID balance for both residents, and visitors alike.
