Competing for local clientele
(a shrinking commodity) is quite a challenge when you consider that there
are 40,000 people living in Venice, and a total of 60,000 including the
surrounding islands. This equates to a loss of about 110,000 inhabitants
since 1946 when the Venetians numbered 170,000. (In the first half of the
1400s, the population numbered 150,000, making it the largest city in
Europe.)
The average loss is about 1,000
Venetians per year, often replaced by wealthy foreigners. You have to be
commited to life in La Serenissima, as writer Thomas Mann described it,
"half fairy tale and half tourist trap." The city is damp, with exorbitant
real estate prices and rents, shrinking services, and the yearly invasion of
12 million tourists. Due to these factors, many Venetians scappano
(escape) to terra ferma (as they call the mainland).
Giacomo describes his challenge
this way: "In Venice, there are 20 to 25,000 anziani (elderly) 65 to
70 years old. That's one-third of the population, then there is 20 percent
bambini (children). That leaves 10-15,000 people going to bars,
restaurants, and bacari, but some of them stay at home with children, or for
other reasons. So between the ages of 22 and 40, we figure there are only 2
to 3,000 people who are in circulation, which is why we hope that the
tourists will eventually want to come here also."
Durant
& Cheryl Imboden's
Café Life Venice
