> Tourism saved Venice I'd wager that Marghera's refinery saved Venice much more than tourism did, at least economically speaking. Also, are you talking about

> Tourism saved Venice I'd wager that Marghera's refinery saved Venice much more than tourism did, at least economically speaking. Also, are you talking about Venice proper (the island parts) or the City of Venice more widely (including Mestre and Marghera)? > Also funny we never hear from the people who are making money from tourism? I can speak for that. My grandpa was one of the kiosks owner in Piazza S. Marco. After his retirement my uncles inherited it. My grandpa used to make a lot of money from tourists buying souvenirs. In the last 20 years sales dropped, nobody buys anything from them anymore, they are now trying to sell sweaters and hats and (of course) they can't seem to sell those either. But still, my grandpa complains both when there's plenty of tourists and when there are none. EDIT: I forgot to type where this was going: my grandpa is against this entry fee. /EDIT It would be interesting to know who actually makes money in Venice. Just my two cents: if the only people happy in a city are those that make money from tourism then it's not a city, it's a theme park.