Tourists get more than they bargained for...
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Tourists in Italy this summer may be in for an unpleasant surprise if they buy knock-off goods from street vendors. One Austrian visitor to the resort of Jesolo hit the headlines recently after she thought she'd snagged a fashion bargain, but was then stung with a whopping €1,000 fine.
In many Italian resorts, street hawkers are a familiar sight. They descend in their droves on popular tourist spots, offering counterfeit designer bags and sunglasses at knock-down prices. While tourists often love the idea of a bargain, police warn that most of the profits these sellers make goes straight to criminal gangs.
In the beach resort of Jesolo, near Venice, the authorities have had enough. Accusing the vendors of harrassing tourists and damaging the image of their town, they have launched a zero-tolerance campaign. But as under Italian law buying counterfeit goods is a crime, the special 25-man strong beach police squad are not just targeting the vendors, but also the tourists who buy from them.
Austrian pensioner Ursula Corel found this out the hard way. She thought she had found a great deal when she haggled the price of a fake Louis Vuitton handbag down to just €7, but the subsequent €1,000 fine that she recieved from the police was more than enough to ruin anyone's holiday.
Fortunately for Ms Corel, the local hotel association stepped in to pay the fine for her. It says the police acted unfairly as tourists have not been adequately warned about the risk of buying counterfeit goods.
Mayor Francesco Calzavara rejects the hoteliers' claims that his campaign could backfire and end up putting potential visitors off. "We have laws in Italy too you know. I had an email from someone yesterday who was bothered 200 times in an afternoon by hawkers. I think that's far more damaging for our image," he told Euranet.
