by Lauren Sánchez blew a kiss when she left the Hotel Aman Venice to go to the tiny Lagoon island, where she will exchange vows and rings with Jeff Bezos.
The 55-year-old American journalist and helicopter pilot took a water taxi along the Grand Canal before stepping on a wooden pier on San Giorgio Island at the mouth of the canal.
The 61 -year -old Mr. Bezos was taken to the island shortly afterwards with black tuxedo and sunglasses.
“She saw very Jackie O,” said a photographer and referred to the headscarf and the great sunglasses that Ms. Sánchez wore.
The island, which houses a group of historical churches and crusaders, has a comprehensive view of the lagoon in Venice. Matteo Bocelli, the son of the Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, will give a performance, followed by a fireworks.
According to Italian law, the ceremony will not have a legal status and it is assumed that the couple, both of them are divorced, may already be legally married in the USA.
The wasteful three -day extravagance, which cost an estimated tens of million euros, would bring Venice an economic boost of 957 million euros (£ 817 million), said Daniela Santanchè, Italy’s tourism minister.
The number is based on a study carried out by the Statistics Office of the Italian Ministry of Tourism. It would make up 68 percent of the annual turnover that Venice normally takes out of tourism.
The claim was raised when it was reported that Lady Gaga and Sir Elton John will appear for the couple at a party on Saturday evening.
It is stopped in the arsenal, the centuries-old shipyards, on which the Venetians built wood trader ships and warships that helped them to forge a trading empire in the Adriatic sea and beyond. It is a huge complex of warehouses, shipyards and workshops surrounded by colored walls, which are guarded by impressive towers and carved stone lions.
Lady Gaga and Sir Elton are known as friends, performed together in the past and worked together on the song Sinus from above.
A guest list that contains the Kardashian Sisters Queen Rania von Jordan, Orlando Bloom, Leonardo DiCaprio, Oprah Winfrey and Bill Gates, made sure that the wedding has made headlines worldwide. Khloé Kardashian and Kris Jenner, her mother, were shopped in the luxury boutiques in Venice on Friday.
“Events like this reinforcement the global image of Italy, generate jobs, promote the country and attract new influx of sophisticated tourists,” said Ms. Santanzè.
“Media fighting also increases the part of Italy in the wedding tourism sector. I would like to thank Jeff Bezos and everyone who chooses Italy as a place for celebrating the most important moments of their lives.”
Critics say that Venice is already being burdened under the pressure of millions of tourists, and the last thing the area needs to further raise the profile.
Activists have staged a number of protests against the wedding.
Demonstrators used lasers on Thursday evening to project the words “no room for Bezos” and “FCK BZS” on the bell tower on the Square of St. Mark.
The opinion is sharply divided into the city. Some Venetians have welcomed the economic advantages that will bring the wedding, while others reinforce the impression that Venice turns into a cultural Disneyland in which tourism has the top and residents of exorbitant rents.
Eliza Daaidone, 79-year-old residents who live in a house with a view of a channel in the Cannaregio district, said: “There will be money for a small minority such as hotels and restaurants. Work will bring work for the water taxis and the gondoliers.
“But for many other people it feels like a slap in the face. Young people work 12 hours a day and are lucky if they earn 1,500 euros per month. And here Bezos get to Venice for three days and spend millions.”
On the whole Piazza, Angela, a bar owner, said: “We have bigger things that we have to worry about. The problem of number one here is the real estate crisis, the fact that the locals cannot afford a living space. Everything has become an Airbnb. This is the actual problem.
But Marco, who has a tourist business at an end of the Rialto Bridge, said that the founder of Amazonas and his wealthy guests should be warmly welcomed.
“At least they will bring income into the city. Not like the daily flippers we get. They arrive for a few hours, use all services, clog the alleys, spend a few euros and then go.
“They create chaos and inconvenience every day. I think the demonstrators are hypocritical – I bet they have all Amazon accounts.”
