Tourism returns to Italy

As you know, the pandemic crippled Italy's tourism industry-- first, with a national lockdown, then with a ban on Americans. But now, tourists are roaring back to places like Rome and, of course, Venice. CBS's Chris Livesay is there.

A paradise on water that the pandemic turned into a desert. But with restrictions now loosened, those days are over, with tourists adding up by the minute. With such irresistible beauty, can you really blame them? Across Italy, monuments are no longer empty and direct flights from the U.S. have resumed. Tabitha Waters and her family from Kentucky were among the first to touch down in Venice. What's the pandemic been like for you?

I lost a couple family members to it, my brother and a good friend. And I'm a nurse. So it's just been a really bad thing to get used to. And seeing the world finally start to become normal again is really good.

The feeling is mutual at Cafe Florian, Italy's oldest coffee house once on the brink of bankruptcy during the pandemic. Now, Americans like the Waters family are helping bring it back to life.

My heart literally has not stopped beating fast.

But their return comes with a cost, says Lorenza Lain of the Venice Hoteliers Association.

Venice has always been called the capital of over-tourism.

Before the pandemic, some 20 million tourists came to Venice in a typical year, many aboard cruise ships that dwarfed the fragile wonderland below, and once even crashed into it. But this week, the Italian government banned the behemoth's from the center of the city, effective August 1, as Venice and all of Italy aim to strike a post-COVID balance that works for locals and tourists alike. Tourism is vital to Venice, to Rome, the entire Italian economy. In fact, it makes up about 13% of the GDP in a normal year. In 2020, it was virtually cut in half, so seeing all these tourists flood back is a sight for sore eyes-- at least for the time being. Chris Livesay, CBS News, Rome.