Could US students help solve Florence鈥檚 tourist problem?
| Florence, Italy
On the streets outside the American University of Florence, no one is speaking Italian. Everywhere, there are strong, clear American accents, debating the merits of Ibiza or the weight-loss benefits of the Mediterranean diet.
This year, though, students might detect an undercurrent of veiled resentment in the air. On signposts and scaffolding here around the university, you can still see the remains of bright yellow stickers that appeared last September, bearing a baleful message in blocky black font: 鈥淵ANKEE GO HOME.鈥�
The stickers are the remnants of a campaign to curb the growing American presence in the city of Michelangelo.
Why We Wrote This
Several cities in Europe are finding increasingly large numbers of foreign tourists hard to manage. But none has such difficulties as the medieval Italian jewel that is Florence. Could students offer a solution?
Hordes of American visitors have been a feature of Florentine life for decades, and exchange students like those at the American University have studied here for half a century. But in recent years, the number of programs bringing American college kids to Florence has exploded 鈥� just when native inhabitants are facing an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis.
Now, it would seem that the residents of one of Europe鈥檚 most eager host cities are running out of graciousness. Protests against overtourism, short-term rentals, and foreign investment are on the rise.
鈥淭his is the mother of all problems,鈥� says Francesco Torrigiani, an organizer for Salvi-Amo Firenze, a housing and livability advocacy group. 鈥淏ut it didn鈥檛 start yesterday.鈥�
Foreign students a mixed blessing?
According to the Association of American College and University Programs in Italy, each year Florence attracts , who attend one of more than 45 study-abroad programs. They account for nearly half of all American exchange students in Italy.
These programs have only increased in importance as city leaders come under growing pressure to develop an alternative economic engine to mass tourism. Among some advocates here, longer-staying students are seen as a preferred alternative to tourists, visited the city in 2024 alone.
All these visitors need somewhere to stay, and, increasingly, they have chosen Airbnbs and other short-term rentals that have colonized the city center and robbed it of its precious housing supply. About 30,000 apartments come on the market in Florence each year, Mr. Torrigiani explains, and at least 17,000 of them are short-term rentals. Long-term residents find it ever harder to house themselves.
The result has been massive rent increases. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, rents have gone up by 50% in Florence, according to data from Italian real estate site Idealista. 鈥淭he rental market is in crisis,鈥� said Vincenzo De Tommaso, head of Idealista鈥檚 research department, . Finding affordable housing, he says, 鈥渉as become almost impossible.鈥�
It鈥檚 less impossible, though, for foreign students, who can generally pay far more than the average Italian can afford. One controversial development, a hotel, coworking space, and student residence called The Social Hub, for pricing single rooms at 鈧�1,300 ($1,470) a month 鈥� 75% of the average Italian鈥檚 monthly wage.
U.S. universities look after their own
To make sure that their students find housing, American universities are going into the lodging business 鈥� and charging a princely sum. New York University, Florida State University, and Kent State University have all grand palazzi to convert into residences, social premises, or teaching facilities. NYU鈥檚 off-campus residences in Florence 鈥� more than double the average cost for a similar apartment in the city.
Still, the authorities maintain that exchange students are better for the city than tourists. Tourists 鈥渢ake, and they don鈥檛 give back that much,鈥� says Carlotta Ferrari, general manager of Fondazione Destination Florence, the city鈥檚 tourism marketing board. 鈥淲ith students ... it鈥檚 totally different: They鈥檙e looking for university, but they are also looking for our way of living. They love to be Italian for a while.鈥�
鈥淭he American community that lives in Florence is totally integrated,鈥� insists Sara Funaro, the city鈥檚 mayor since June 2024. 鈥淭his applies both to those who live and work in the city and ... to the students who arrive here.鈥�
Critics, though, say that the exchange programs, some of which last just a few weeks, offer little opportunity for Americans to integrate with the city and its residents, making their participants largely indistinguishable from tourists.
鈥淭he American students come here to have a Disneyland experience,鈥� says Marella Amorini, a native of the city and vice president of an international students鈥� group. 鈥淎nd they are having it.鈥�
Trouble abroad
Certainly the American presence is having a visible impact on the cityscape: more English on signage, more coffee shops serving 鈥淎merican-style鈥� lattes and breakfasts, more restaurants and bars geared to American students鈥� discount appetites.
Over the years, the growing American community has developed a reputation for public rowdiness, which grates in the context of Italy鈥檚 reserved drinking culture. Local resentments have spilled out in unexpected ways.
In 2017, after two American students said they were raped by police officers on their way home from a Florence nightclub, then-Mayor Dario Nardella . 鈥淔lorence is not the city of sballo,鈥� or intoxication, he said. 鈥淔rom the point of view of rules and good behavior, it is no different from many American cities.鈥�
Ms. Funaro, Mr. Nardella鈥檚 successor, takes a decidedly different tack. 鈥淚 think that we are the ones who have to build a relationship in order to explain what the rules are,鈥� she says.
Ms. Funaro has also made reducing short-term rentals a priority of her administration. In November, her government in the city center. An was overturned by a Florentine court; further restrictions would require buy-in from Italy鈥檚 far-right national government, an opponent of Ms. Funaro鈥檚 progressive party.
But it might all be too little, too late. Consultants are that the city has become too crowded, too expensive, and too Americanized. They say new programs should find new Italian cities to occupy, where their students might enjoy a more 鈥渁uthentic鈥� experience.
鈥淚t鈥檚 too late; a lot of Florence has already been sold,鈥� says Mr. Torrigiani, the advocacy group organizer. 鈥淎s we say in Italy, the cattle have already escaped from the barn.鈥�
Editor鈥檚 note: The story, originally published May 9, has been updated to correct the spellings of Mr. De Tommaso鈥檚 first name and Fondazione Destination Florence. It has also been clarified as to which Florida university recently purchased real estate in Florence.
