L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, AUGUST 10, 2017 www.italoamericano.org 4 with Venice in 2014, on her fist visit, and Sebastian, half Italian and half German, but born and bred in Venice. The two stepped on common ground when they realized the city needed to be more appreciat- ed in its full authenticity, it need- ed to become to the eyes of the world what it is to the eyes of its inhabitants: this is why they cre- ated "Venezia Autentica," an online source filled to the brim with essential information about the places, the people and the product of "la Venezia vera," the real Venice. L'Italo Americano had a virtu- al meeting with Valeria and Sebastian and chatted about "Venezia Autentica" and, of course, about their love for La Serenissima. Tell us more about "Venezia Autentica:" how does it work and what are its main aims? "Venezia Autentica" is a social enterprise we've founded in Venice to create a better future for the Venetians in their city. It's mainly web based and we're using our social media and our website veneziaautentica.com to leverage the international love for Venice and put it to good use (they have more than 30.000 fol- lowers on social media). Indeed, we help people from all around the world to discover and under- stand Venice and the Venetians better and equip them with tools and knowledge which they can use to have a more rewarding experience of Venice, while feel- ing good about maximizing their positive impact on the city. We do this because we believe that the most immediate remedy to the main current threat to Venice, the massive exodus caused by the consequences of mass tourism, is to help Venetians stay working in Venice so that they can afford to live here and the local quality services and products essential to the local life do not all disappear. We're con- vinced that international visitors can really help with this and we've decided to make it very easy for them to do so. We also commit ourselves to helping more of the local community by sup- porting local citizens and associa- tions with their projects: our main aim is to create a sustainable future for the Venetians - by birth or by choice- and to improve the quality of life in Venice, both for the locals and the visitors. What are the aspects of mass tourism that, in your opinion, have been damaging your city the most? The change of market to which it leads. The exponential growth of mass tourism in Venice has led a staggering number of small businesses, family-run busi- nesses and artisans' shops to dis- appear to be replaced by souvenir shops selling cheap imported pla- sticky things. This happens because the great majority of the people spending only a few hours in Venice, don't have the time to understand the city and appreciate the beauty and great value of Venetian life, culture, food, and crafts. As a consequence, thou- sands of Venetian families had to close their businesses and had to move out of their city. Was there a precise moment, an epiphany so to speak, you felt things had gone too far and there was a real need to protect Venice from mass tourism? There was indeed an epiphany, but it was more about the way Venice could be 'saved,' how it could be protected from mass tourism. Indeed, we believe that the feeling that something has to be done in Venice is something that strikes most of the people who sets foot in town and without a doubt, every person living here knows it. You both have ties with for- eign countries: how much do you feel the image of Venice abroad has been negatively influenced by stereotypes? We live here and know the city from the inside, but since one of us is French and the other is half German we also know, indeed, how Venice is portrayed from the outside. Some stereo- types about Venice are actually quite true, while others are far from the truth. In both cases, however, the information given abroad is overly simplified and it gives a wrong image of the city. For example, media outlets say that the city is overwhelmed by tourists. This is only partially true: in the summertime, when millions of people come to Venice, the moment you step away from the day-trippers-paths, you will admire completely empty alleys and squares. Also, all museums but one are almost completely empty and a real joy to visit. These stereotypes, although they might not sound harmful, could be one of the factors that lead people not to stay in Venice for a few days and therefore not to take the time to discover and enjoy the city, but rather to come only for a matter of hours. Do you feel the concept behind "Venezia Autentica" could -or should!- be exported to other parts of Italy? We strongly believe that the concept behind "Venezia Autentica" could work for every city of arts, every European city which is facing the challenges that mass tourism brings. Florence and Barcelona, for example, could benefit greatly from such a model. Currently, Venice is the city in Europe that is suffering the most from mass tourism and it is used as a world- wide negative example of the excesses of tourism and a lack of sustainable management. We are convinced that "Venezia Autentica'"s model could greatly benefit all those cities, and we'd be willing to help them imple- ment it! How has "Venezia Autentica" been received by Venetians and what feedback have you received from tourists? We must say that many peo- ple, both Venetians and tourists, have been very supportive of our project since the very beginning, and this enthusiasm and support is constantly growing. We regu- larly get extremely sweet emails and messages on social media from people thanking us for our work; we receive wonderful com- ments on our social media pro- files on a daily basis; we receive private messages from artisan thanking us for the sale they made to and the great time they had with people who found their shop on our website. We believe in what we do and we are very committed to it, but we can't deny that working 80 hours per week on "Venezia Autentica" can be very tiring, yet these messages make us so happy and give us an incredible amount of positive energy to keep on working hard. We must ask: one spot to experience la vera Venezia. In our opinion, La vera Venezia, or la Venezia Autentica, only exists as a whole. The moment you reach Venice, you immediately SEE that it is unlike any other city you have ever seen. The history of Venice is just as unique, as it has been the longest lasting independent state in human history. This unique city with its unique history, as a natural conse- quence, gave birth to food, cul- ture, arts, crafts, sports and a lifestyle which are just as unique. We are convinced that a per- son wanting to experience the Authentic Venice as a whole, can only do so by spending at least a few days here, walking off the beaten path, visiting artisans' shops, trying the local food. By visiting Venice this way, you can only fall in love with the city.and understand why there is only one Venice and why it deserves to be preserved. How is, truly, living in Venice today? Living in Venice today is dif- ficult and a dream at the same time. Sebastian Fagarazzi & Valeria Duflot, Venezia Autentica's Co-Founders Venezia Autentica aims at "creating a better future for Venetians in their city" by showing visitors Venice's real soul. Photo courtesy of Venezia Autentica Italy and mass tourism: more is not always better NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS Continued from page 1

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