Venice’s Mayor Is Reassuring Locals Forward of Jeff Bezos’ Wedding ceremony

As the town of Venice confirmed it’s gearing as much as host the marriage of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez this summer season, the native mayor tried to reassure residents amid the continued battle with overtourism.

In an announcement on Saturday, the town of Venice stated the billionaire and his bride-to-be’s upcoming nuptials wouldn’t trigger disruption to residents or guests and that the precedence could be to ensure the town — lengthy a vacationer hotspot — “capabilities as regular.”

The assertion stated that 200 visitors are on account of attend the Venetian ceremony, nevertheless it harassed that the town was accustomed to dealing with giant worldwide occasions.

It additionally denied studies that giant numbers of gondolas or “extreme” numbers of water taxis had been booked for the event.

“The various speculations and pretend information circulating about Jeff Bezos’ marriage ceremony are utterly unfounded,” the assertion continued.

Luigi Brugnaro, Venice’s mayor, added: “We’re mutually working and supporting the organizers, to make sure that the occasion will likely be completely respectful of the fragility and uniqueness of the town. Because of this, we’ll work collectively for greatest end result. Whoever loves Venice will at all times be welcome.”

The town didn’t disclose the date for Bezos and Sanchez’s vacation spot marriage ceremony, and representatives for the Blue Origin founder didn’t reply to a request for remark from Enterprise Insider, which was despatched exterior common working hours.

Nevertheless, a spokesperson for the mayor of Venice advised CNN that the celebrations are on account of happen from June 24 to June 26.

Bezos and Sánchez, a former broadcast journalist, turned engaged in Could 2023. The Washington Submit proprietor was beforehand married to MacKenzie Scott, with whom he has 4 youngsters.

It is not the primary time the “floating metropolis” has performed host to a high-profile marriage ceremony.

In 2014, George and Amal Clooney tied the knot on the unique Aman Canal Grande Resort, which faces onto the enduring Grand Canal.

However lately, the town — famed for its maze of picturesque canals and beautiful structure — has garnered growing consideration for its makes an attempt to push again on overtourism.

With a inhabitants of round simply 50,000, the island metropolis of Venice welcomes round 20 million guests a yr — and lots of of its outnumbered residents are fed up.

A number of measures have been launched to attempt to sort out the problem, together with limiting vacationer teams to 25 individuals, banning giant cruise ships from coming into the Venice Lagoon, and charging a every day 5-euro (round $5.40) price to day-trippers.