Around 16 million tourists visit Florence every year . It 's popularity is not surprising - the city contains over sixty per cent of the world 's art heritage . But for its population of 350,000 , that 's an overwhelming figure . So a new initiative set up by Prince Ottaviano de ’ Medici di Toscana , representative of the Historic House of the Medici , is aiming to reclaim the city , saving it from the ruins of mass tourism . Around 16 million tourists visit Florence every year , visiting historical sights such as the Duomo , pictured here . The last ten years have seen a steep incline in the amount of visitors to the city . Vandals have destroyed historic monuments , an influx of fast-food outlets now line the major thoroughfares and binge-drinking tourists have been seen urinating in the streets and sleeping rough . About 1.5 million cruise tourists arrive via bus from Livorno and La Spezia each year , staying in Florence for just a couple of hours , clogging the streets and adding little to the economy . And as large franchises move in , local shopkeepers and artisans have moved out . And as many as 100,000 native Florentines have left the city to escape traffic and high property prices . Vandals have destroyed historic monuments , an influx of fast-food outets now line the major thoroughfares and binge-drinking tourists have been seen urinating in the streets and sleeping rough . Prince Ottaviano worries that Florence 's cultural significance has been radically altered . 'There is an absolute lack of laws to protect the city from uncontrolled mass tourism and insufficient maintenance of buildings , monuments , urban spaces , and works of art , ' he told the National Geographic . 'The situation became even worse to my eyes when I discovered that the police don ’ t have any agent—not even one ! —who can certify the state of decay of building façades and require owners to make repairs . ' Snapping a selfie at the Duomo , left , and tourists at the fountain of Neptune , Piazza Della Signoria , right . Prince Ottaviano has proposed adding Florence , already a World Heritage City , to UNESCO 's endangered list . The Save Florence campaign aims to appeal to 'true travellers ' rather than tourists blitzing the city in a couple of hours . Rather than mass tourism , the prince wants to attract visitors with its traditions of food and craft , its lesser known museums and smaller hotels . And another Florence aficionado , tour operator Mark Gordon Smith , is aiming to bring the city 's decline into public view , through a series of short video documentaries . The Italy specialist is hoping to fund his project , to showcase Florence 's hidden gems , the neighbourhoods tourists usually miss , as well as the damage being done by disrespecting visitors , via Kickstarter . Tour operator Mark Gordon Smith wants to show the city 's decline through a series of short documentaries . On his fundraising page , he says : 'The city of Florence Italy is in peril ' . 'The monuments and streets which lead from the Accademia through the Piazza Duomo to the Piazza della Signoria and the Uffizi are showing immeasurable damage ; graffiti on historic monuments , visitors using the streets as a bathroom , people sleeping in the loggias of Santissima Annunziata and the Ospedale degli Innocenti . ' He is hoping the short films will be distributed across the world to raise awareness .
Around 1 million tourists visit multi - population centres , every year . many worry the city 's cultural significance has been radically altered . A new iniative seeks to appeal to ' true travellers ' looking for parts of the city .