ROME -- Upper limits on the numbers of tourists aboard gondolas, which are one of the main features of Venice as a tourist destination in northern Italy, are scheduled to be lowered. If you expected the next lines to say this is because of the coronanvirus pandemic and social distancing, you would be wrong: people in the water transport business there say it's because passengers are heavier than they used to be.
In Venice, canals crisscross the whole of the city, so watercraft are convenient for transportation. Gondolas are a popular conveyance because passengers can enjoy watching the scenery while moving at a relaxing speed.
There are basically two size of gondolas: small, about 11 meters long, and what is considered midsize. The upper limits on passengers now are six for the small gondolas, and 14 for the midsize ones. These numbers will be lowered to five and 12, respectively, starting this fall.
According to local newspaper la Repubblica, the reason for the reduction of capacities is the increase in body weights of tourists.
On canals in Venice, vessels in various sizes, large to small, including motorboats, frequently pass by each other. To keep water traffic moving and avoid collisions, gondoliers' skills are constantly tested. But there has been an increasing number of cases where gondoliers were unable to change course in time, because extra passenger weight has affected their craft's hydrodynamic reactions to time-tested steering techniques.
The gondoliers have an impression that the body weights of tourists from Asian and Middle East countries are much heavier compared with those of 20 to 30 years ago.
The chairman of a local gondola association said, "The body frames of tourists have become bigger."
In fact, according to statistics from the World Health Organization, the number of people who are slightly fat in Asian and Middle East countries has been on the rise year after year.
It is assumed that, along with economic growth in emerging countries, the dietary habits of people there have changed.
Currently, tourism to Venice is at nearly zero due to coronavirus pandemic, but restrictions on entry to the country from other European countries were lifted in June. Thus, visitors to Venice have begun increasing.
The gondola association said that it has repeatedly discussed the reduction of capacities on the vessels for several years.
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