Costa Cruises and Local Partners Join to Protect Venice’s Piazza San Marco
Published Saturday, May 12th 2012
Costa Cruises has joined with the Venice Municipal Administration and the Piazza San Marco Association to present “Viviamo la città — sei in piazza San Marco” (“Let’s live the town — You’re in Piazza San Marco”), an initiative aimed at improving and preserving Piazza San Marco and the surrounding
area — one of the world’s most famous and iconic cultural and historical sites.
The project seeks to raise awareness about how local residents and tourists who work at or visit the unique location can use the Piazza San Marco in appropriate and sustainable ways. The three institutional sponsors are providing support in the form of planning and financial resources.
From May 14 to Sept. 30, 2012, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., a team of eight hostesses and stewards will be available in the area around Piazza San Marco to provide information about how to respect and protect the iconic site, municipal rules of civilized conduct and the best use of public and private services. The multilingual team will be able to interact with tourists of all nationalities. Hostesses and stewards also will inform Metropolitan Police Headquarters of any violations of municipal rules they discover while on duty.
“Venice is one of the cities we are most fond of, and one of our cruise guests’ favorites,” said Gianni Onorato, Costa Crociere president. “That is why we want to contribute to the preservation of this monumental site that symbolizes the city, working jointly with the local authorities and institutions.”
Onorato noted that Costa has always played an active role in environmental protection and voluntarily proposes initiatives that go beyond the limits imposed by law. “In Venice we were one of the first, in 2007, to endorse Venice Blue Flag, the agreement to use low-sulphur fuel in the city area,” said Onorato. “Furthermore, our flagships Costa Fascinosa and her sistership Costa Favolosa will be calling in Venice throughout the summer 2012 season, and both ships are ready for fitting with the ‘cold ironing’ system, which allows the engines to be shut down when in the ship is in port and to connect to the shore electricity supply.”
“This is just one of multiple initiatives of the Piazza San Marco Association to protect the Piazza in collaboration with different entities that share the goal of solving the problems affecting the Piazza, particularly during summer,” said association Chairman Alberto Nardi. “That is when there is an unchecked flow of thousands of tourists of different nationalities, cultures, ages and social standings, arriving as individuals or in organized groups. The Piazza is huge, and its very architecture induces visitors to ‘spend time in the Piazza’ and ‘make themselves at home’ — at the expense of urban decorum. Well, this project intends to contribute to eliminating the negative aspects in all this.”
The Association, established in 1992 by Piazza San Marco traders and Venice residents, is committed to raising awareness and protecting the cultural values and the historical, artistic and architectural value of the Piazza San Marco area in particular and Venice in general.
For more information about Costa Cruises, contact a travel professional, call 800- GO-COSTA or visit www.costacruises.com.
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