Not the guy we wanted to win.

The idea that not allowing cruise ships into the lagoon will damage the Venetian economy is predicated on the false premise that it’s helping in the first place to let them in. The backbone of the Venice we know and love is found in the small merchants, boutique hotels, and fine restaurants that hordes of cruise ship tourists don’t patronize in the slightest. Buying fake Carnival masks made in China at tourist trap shops around the corner from San Marco is not what’s going to save Venice.