The Eternal City is not immune to the Bed and Breakfast trend. Private individuals have made rooms or apartments available to tourists. The option most people want is a central location at a low cost
We are staying in an apartment two blocks from the Colosseum.
We always want to be together comfortably. And in the hotel you sleep well. It's always clean. But in the end, B&Bs are always the cheapest and you still sleep well.
There are more than 23,000 B&Bs registered in Rome. There are also a number of illegal tourist apartments: those that are neither registered nor regulated and there are about 12,000 of these.
Many of them are scams.
And this is a problem the Italian authorities want to tackle before the Jubilee.
MARIANO ANGELUCCI
Vice President, Jubilee 2025 Special Commission
We expect the national government to issue a series of regulations, including the Unique Identification Code, which will allow them to find all these illegal businesses. They evade tourism tax and it hurts the city.
The fact that centrally located apartments are being converted into tourist accommodations has one main consequence: there is less housing available for residents and rent prices are skyrocketing.
Clearly greater demand means higher prices. Also because then there are less available apartments. There are some, but they're all turning into B&Bs.
The result: residents are forced to move out of the city. This is the case of Matteo, a porter in a building with tourist apartments. He has a long commute to work because he can't afford to pay for housing near the center.
MATTEO MERINO
Porter
This unfortunately affects local people a lot because the cost of rent is very high. I mean maybe for a tourist, it's a normal price. But for me, living here, it's a very high price.
For other businesses, this increase in prices is logical if demand is high.
I own a house and I will plan for the rise in costs. There will be some increases in the short term but that's part of the business.
With this on the table, there is even a proposal that Rome should push for the $5 tourist tax that Venice has.
I know they just did some limiting type things in Venice and I don't disagree with that because you do have to preserve what everyone is coming to see.
This tax has raised more than 2 million dollars, but many consider it a failure. Many say it has failed to regulate the number of tourists in Venice. The tax might even be doubled in 2025 to about $10.
The Jubilee Committee of the City of Rome argues that the Eternal City does not have the resources of Venice to levy this tax.
MARIANO ANGELUCCI
Vice President, Jubilee 2025 Special Commission
The entire city of Venice is smaller than the center of Rome so it is clearly a completely different situation.
The issue of tolling is a sensitive issue that is met with difficulties.
What is clear is that the city of Rome will face major challenges in the coming year: from maintaining the stability of its buildings to tourism control to, above all, ensuring that the city is up to the task of welcoming pilgrims for the Jubilee.
CA
TR: KG
