The Empty Boxes of Venice:
Overtourism—Conflicts, Politicisation and Activism.


Book chapter on the conflicts ocurring from increasing tourism and shrinking social housing opportunities in the city of Venice (in English) by Marta Torres Ruiz Published in Ba, Frank, Müller, Raschke, Wellner, Zecher (eds.) 2021, The Power of New Urban Tourism. Spaces, Representations and Contestations, Chapter 10

The growth of tourism and discontents with related transformations in the urban context, have recently led to politization processes, like protests and activism. Those have gained attention in conflict related tourism studies, such as in New Urban Tourism. This chapter’s aim is to trace conflict lines in the conjunction of New Urban Tourism and Overtourism, based on empirical material obtained from research and interviews held with civic groups, which complain about Overtourism in European cities. The research gives an insight to the 
formation of civic groups and reflects on the topic of housing-shortage due to vacant housing and struggles that arise from the deregulation of short-term rentals and the privatization of public housing in the city of Venice.