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Florence, Italy’s Renaissance jewel, has become the country’s first city to block new short-term rentals in its historic center, escalating a growing European pushback against the surge in tourism-focused properties.
“Short-term rentals have had a very significant impact on the cost and availability of local housing,” Jacopo Vicini, Florence’s councilor for economic development and tourism, said in an interview with Skift. “When you remove long-term residents, you remove the customers for the small shops and businesses in the immediate neighborhood.”
The ban came as short-term rentals in Florence’s UNESCO-protected zone have skyrocketed more than 700% since 2019, reaching 12,250 properties in just five square kilometers, according to city data.
Florence Tightens Regulations
Following a new national law that came into force on November 2, owners of short-term rentals in Italy must register with their local council and display a national identification code (CIN) outside of their building.
The CIN code will need to be included anywhere the short-term rental is advertised, for example, by OTAs and booking platforms.
A further measure taken in Florence is a ban on lock boxes for keys, which tourists widely use to gain access to apartments in the host’s absence.
“Having these boxes outside historic buildings is not aesthetically pleasing, but there is also a question of security,” explained Vicini. “There is an anti-terrorism obligation on the part of the person letting the apartment to verify that the visitor going into the apartment is who he or she is meant to be. Often with these key boxes, this obligation is evaded.”
From January 1, 2024, the rate of tax payable by owners of more than one short-term rental apartment in Italy increased from 21% to 26%.
“We need more control over the tourist buses that arrive in our city, for example. We found, after making checks this August, that one bus in five wasn’t paying the required tax,” Vicini said.
Using AI Against Overtourism
In Italy, local city governments have been largely left to their own devices to manage the rapid increase in short-term rentals. While officials in Rome and Venice have introduced measures, Florence appears to be taking a particularly robust approach.
Vicini and Sara Funara, the mayor of Florence, announced a 10-point plan this month to tackle overtourism in their city. Many of the measures involve an increasing use of AI and digital data to monitor tourist activity in and around the city.
He added that technology, already successfully used in Spain, will help Florence identify anomalies and illegal activity, like accommodations with 15 beds and only one bathroom.
Through a collaboration with the Data Appeal Company, Florence can mine big data, helping the authorities to examine visitor sentiment across various categories and predict demand for the next 12 months by monitoring flight and hotel searches.
The 10-point plan also includes increased collaboration with major online travel agencies to obtain useful data on short-term rentals and to spread campaigns on respecting the city.
The use of “atypical tourism vehicles” will be limited, and tour guides will be banned from using amplifiers and loudspeakers.
Not Against Airbnb
Vicini explained that the city felt a ban on new openings was necessary: “We’re aiming to distribute short-term rentals in a better way throughout the city. Florence is a city of 100 square kilometers, but the UNESCO area is only five square kilometers, so you can understand why there is a perception of very high levels of tourism in the center.”
Ninety-five percent of all tourist visits to Florence are concentrated within the small historic center.
Vicini concluded: “I don’t want to give the impression that all is lost. We are taking a series of measures to manage the situation and to intervene before it’s too late. In the end, these are all actions designed to improve the relationship between residents and visitors — that’s the ultimate goal.”
European City Officials Talk Overtourism
