"I will block the canal and throw myself onto the street to ensure it is blocked."
As the founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos's "wedding of the century" approaches, the Italian tourist city of Venice, where the ceremony will be held, is in a frenzy.
Young people exhausted from overtourism are leaving the city, defining Bezos's wedding as a "symbol of trying to buy the city with money" and promising to take action instead of offering blessings.
According to foreign media such as CNN on the 18th (local time), Bezos and his partner Lauren Sanchez will hold their wedding in Venice for three days starting on the 24th.
The estimated budget for the event alone is $10 million (approximately 14 billion won). Entertainment media reported that over 200 luxurious guests, including Bill Gates, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Kim Kardashian, are expected to fly to Italy to attend the wedding. The largest yacht in the world, "Koru," owned by Bezos, will dock at the Grand Canal in Venice.
However, the sentiments of young people in Venice regarding the wedding differ.
Federica Toninello, who organized protests against the wedding, said in a CNN interview, "Bezos will never set foot in the expected wedding venue, Misericordia," adding, "We will block the canal with life rafts and small boats."
They hung a banner reading "No Space for Bezos" on the Rialto Bridge, a symbol of Venice. They declared their intent to sabotage the wedding by tracking down the secret venue and posting placards that read "Get out."
The superficial reason for their anger is overtourism, also known as excessive tourism. Overtourism is a phenomenon where the influx of tourists exceeds the capacity of a specific tourist destination, resulting in a decline in the quality of life for locals.
The population of Venice's historic district, which attracts tourists, is around 50,000. This small area sees an influx of 25 to 30 million tourists annually.
In 2023, after the pandemic, the number of accommodation facilities for tourists (based on the number of beds) exceeded that of local residents for the first time. As demand for accommodations surged, housing prices skyrocketed. Indigenous residents could not afford the high rents and were pushed out to the outskirts, abandoning the urban areas they had inhabited for generations.
As the residents left, essential facilities such as schools, hospitals, and affordable grocery stores disappeared along with the tourists. Protesters criticized, "The city is gradually transforming into a giant theme park."
Some criticize that if it is a city that survives on tourism, such outcomes are inevitable.
Tourism plays an absolute role in Venice's economy. The scale of Venice's tourism industry is estimated at 2.3 billion euros (approximately 3.4 trillion won) annually. Most of the 50,000 citizens from the historic city work in tourism-related industries.
However, the fruits of this industry do not benefit the residents properly. According to the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), despite the enormous added value created by the tourism industry, Venice ranks last in income distribution equality in the Veneto region.
Among all taxpayers in Venice, 73% earn less than 26,000 euros (approximately 41 million won) per year. Protesters argue that the tourism industry does not sustain the city but creates unstable low-wage jobs and concentrates wealth in the hands of a few, labeling it a "beautiful but deceptive facade."
Venice's tourism authorities began charging a fee of 5 euros (approximately 7,500 won) for day-trippers on weekends and during peak seasons starting last year to combat overtourism.
This year, they have increased the number of days for charging the fee to 54 and raised the price to 10 euros for last-minute reservations.
However, prevailing assessments are that these efforts have effectively failed to control the number of tourists. The number of tourists visiting Venice is increasing even faster than expected.
BBC warned that "the European tourism industry is at risk of self-destruction."
In 2024, the number of European tourists is expected to rise by 12% compared to 2019, before the pandemic, setting a record high.
In Barcelona, Spain, local protesters sprayed water guns at tourists earlier this month, shouting, "Tourists go home." The Barcelona city government has proposed drastic measures to eliminate all tourist rental properties by 2028 to curb skyrocketing housing prices.
Budapest, Hungary, and Athens, Greece, have also decided to suspend the issuance of short-term rental permits for tourists starting in 2025.
Experts noted, "Bezos's wedding will be a one-time event in itself," adding that "a new paradigm is needed in cities like Venice, which are heavily reliant on tourism, to limit the number of tourists, ensure that tourism revenue is fairly distributed within the community, and coexist with residents' lives."