Survival of the Venetian Gondolier

When you think of Venice, the first thing most people think of is the iconic gondoliers and romantic gondola rides through the cities’ canals. During our daytrip to Venice we decided to indulge in the quintessential experience and found ourselves a boat.

As we glided through the canals of the “City of Water” we talked with our gondolier Tommaso and learned about the history of Venice and the gondolier. In the early days of the city, gondoliers were employed by rich families to travel the city but are purely for tourism purposes nowadays. Each gondolier will decorate their boat with elaborate carvings, fabrics, and golden figures to attract customers.

He told us that Venice is home to 433 gondoliers who all own their own boats and are part of a union, minimizing competition for customers across the city through price standardization.

The gondolier trade is usually a family affair passed down from father to son starting from a young age. Tommaso started learning from his father at the age of 10 and started working professionally by himself at 20. As a father to two young boys himself, ages 6 and 10, he’s excited to teach them the family trade on his days off.

To support his family, he said it was very important that he worked during the peak season, May to August. Venice is one of the most visited cities in the world, averaging 20 million visitors a year and only growing with time. Demand during the busy season has many gondoliers working 12 hours or more a day. During the off-season they only average 1 trip a day, making survival tough.   

After 10 years of working the canals, he says it hasn’t changed much over the years. The gondolier is still part of the lifeblood of Venice, just in a different way.

The only disappointing part of our ride was learning that gondoliers only sing in the movies!

Notes: My interviewee’s name is Tommaso (no last name given), 30, born and raised in Venice, and still living there today. He’s been working as a gondolier for 10 years and was trained by his father. Venice is one of the most visited cities in the world and the gondolier and gondola rides are huge tourism draws.