But the city is now scrambling to save the tradition as gondoliers are becoming harder to come by.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fewer young people are training to ferry gondolas through Venice, particularly as Italy experience<\/span>s a\u00a0record number of<\/a>\u00a0tourists\u2014over 130 million last year<\/span>. That\u2019s threatening a sacred element of the city.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a generational change: people retire and need to be replaced,\u201d Andrea Balbi, the president of Venice\u2019s gondoliers\u2019 association, told The Guardian<\/em><\/a> in an interview published on Thursday.<\/p>\n Often seen in their typical garb of a striped top and straw hat navigating a single oar, gondoliers were once a community of thousands in Venice. But today, there are just under 450 of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n The tradition was passed on from one generation to the next\u2014specifically from father to son. Now, interested gondoliers must take a training course on the \u201cArt of the Gondolier<\/a>\u201d to prove high school education, knowledge of swimming, and a medical certificate stating their fitness. The actual training will involve honing rowing skills and lessons on the history and culture of Venice.\u00a0<\/p>\n The diverging forces of rising tourism demand and fewer gondoliers to engage them create the need for more of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sergi Reboredo\u2014VWPics\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In recent years, the barrier to becoming a gondolier has been lowered to allow women and any EU citizen (not just Italians) to join the profession. However, they will still have to meet the requirements for maneuvering the gondolas. Given their popularity with tourists, gondoliers will also be taught to say things in non-European languages.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s not easy being a gondolier, especially as a heat wave engulfs<\/a> Europe, threatening the gondola rowing as it dries up<\/a> the water in canals.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Still, Balbi said those who do it would do it for the love of the city because it is critical to Venice\u2019s functioning.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cVenice would need to die before this profession dies,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople who apply themselves to this profession do so because they are in love with Venice and are convinced that they are bringing forward the traditions of the gondola and the city.\u201d<\/p>\n Gondoliers have witnessed the ebbs and flows of tourism. They\u2019ve seen everything from the slump during the COVID-19 pandemic<\/a> to the gradual progression to overtourism. Venice has cracked down on groups bigger than 25 people<\/a> and has also introduced a \u20ac5 entry fee<\/a> to discourage crowds where it can. Still, there\u2019s no stopping visitors from coming to one of the most iconic cities in the world. Venice can\u2019t afford it either since tourism<\/a> is integral to its revenue.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Even among tourists, not everyone is keen to learn about Venice\u2019s heritage while on gondola rides.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou usually find that the young ones only want to take selfies,\u201d Balbi said. \u201cIt\u2019s families or people over 30 who show more curiosity about the city and want to know its history and how it was built.\u201d<\/p>\n Gondolas were one of the earliest ways of getting around Venice, if not on foot. Today, their role is to help people experience Venetian culture, so protecting the craft and the tradition around it could protect the heart of the city as a whole. \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"people](\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/GettyImages-2161122099-e1723803496207.jpg?w=1440&q=75\"\/)