In June, Houston billionaire entertainment mogul and Italian ambassador Tilman Fertitta announced he would embark on a tour of Italy’s coastline on his $450 million yacht to celebrate America’s 250th birthday. So far, Italians aren’t feeling very patriotic.
Fertitta arrived in Venice on Friday as part of a tour that the U.S. Embassy in Rome dubbed “Coastal Diplomacy 250.” In an announcement, the embassy called the tour an “ambitious travel initiative” that would see Fertitta visit 13 coastal Italian cities over two months so he could “connect personally” with the Italian public. Fertitta is taking the tour on his 384-foot, $450 million yacht named The Boardwalk. In Venice, Fertitta found that some Italians weren’t interested in knowing him.
Ahead of Fertitta’s visit, protestors unfurled a massive banner as long as Fertitta’s yacht to demonstrate “the dimensions of his arrogance,” according to the Associated Press. The banner reads “Venezia non si USA,” a play on a popular slogan meaning “Venice is not to be used” that groups who protested Lauren Sanchez and Jeff Bezos’ Venice wedding used last year. Many of those groups are also protesting Fertitta’s visit, which will reportedly include a visit to the Festa del Redentore, which commemorates the end of the plague in 1576. Organizers are also protesting the administration of President Donald Trump and the war in Iran.
“It’s arrogant to think he can do what he wants in a city that is ever more sold to the single culture of tourism,” organizer Stella Morion told The Associated Press. “It is the umpteenth slap in the face of a city and all of the people in Venice who struggle to reach the end of the month due to an increase in prices caused by Trump’s war.”
Activists from the “Laboratorio Occupato Morion” unfurl a 117-meter-long banner where U.S. Ambassador Tilman Fertitta’s yacht – also 117 meters long – will be moored during the Redentore festival, on July 04, 2026 in Venice, Italy. (Stefano Mazzola/Getty Images)
Fertitta’s extravagant wealth has not helped the tour’s perception. Through his massive holding company, Fertitta Entertainment, the Galveston-born businessman owns a sprawling empire that includes the NBA’s Houston Rockets and Landry’s, his dining, hospitality and gambling company. Earlier this year, Fertitta purchased the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun to move the team to Houston, and is currently in talks to purchase Caesars Entertainment.
The U.S. Embassy in Rome stressed in its announcement of the tour that Fertitta, a descendant of Italian immigrants whom Trump appointed to be the U.S. Ambassador to Italy and San Marino in 2025, would “personally fund the voyage.” But the Italian government has been on the hook for security, which includes the Italian coast guard and police at every port of call. Fertitta’s security needs have sparked outcry among the Italian public amid the country’s economic downturn. In a statement to Chron, Fertitta called his Freedom 250 Coastal Diplomacy tour “an amazing way for me to meet Italians from all walks of life and to celebrate 250 years of U.S. independence and decades of friendship with Italy.”
“This will be my third official visit in Venice during my time as Ambassador,” Fertitta said. “With each visit, I have come to appreciate even more the historic, artistic, economic, and cultural connections this great city has with the U.S. I am honored to be here to participate in this important annual commemoration. Like Italians, we Americans respect freedom of speech and the right to peaceful protest; Coastal Diplomacy celebrates our nation’s founding and these fundamental rights.”
At least one Italian lawmaker, left-wing politician Luana Zanella, has taken issue with the tour, which she called a “diplomatic vacation” on a “gigantic, ultra-luxurious” yacht, according to the Financial Times. “This display of opulence is not right,” Zanella, who was born in Venice, said in parliament on Friday.
Tilman Fertitta, U.S. Ambassador to Italy, poses aboard his yacht Boardwalk in the port of Naples, with Mount Vesuvius in the background. (KONTROLAB/KONTROLAB/LightRocket via Getty )
Valentino Valentini, Italy’s vice-minister of business and industry, has said that Italy is required to protect Fertitta under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which requires countries to agree to protect foreign ambassadors. Valentini also said that Fertitta is entitled to “first-level exceptional protection” as the U.S. Ambassador, and because The Boardwalk has served as Fertitta’s residence.
Previously, Feritta was living on the yacht full-time instead of living in the ambassador’s residence at the historic Villa Taverna in Rome because he wanted a “series of careful renovations” done to the 15th-century estate. The newsletter Airmail reported that Fertitta had apparently wanted to be able to commute via helicopter to the residence, which was denied by the Italian government because of restricted airspace over Rome. Fertitta finally moved into the diplomatic residence last summer.
Before landing in Venice, Fertitta stopped in the Sicilian port of Cefalu, where his family hails from, and the port of Le Castilla. Stella Faye, a 28-year-old university researcher who helped organize protests against Fertitta’s visit, questioned if his tour was really of diplomatic value.
“It’s a very weird way to do diplomacy,” Faye told the FT. “It’s very emblematic of the political model that Trump is trying to build, joining political and economic power.”
Editor’s note: This article was updated to include a statement from Tilman Fertitta.
More Culture
Drink Up | Photos show wild night as England fans drink Texas pub try
Nuggets | Fams camp out, spend hundreds on Buc-ee’s opening day
Laughable | Texas’ Universal Kids Resort under fire over Shrek ride preview
Eats | Blue Bell’s most beloved summer flavor is back
For the latest and best from Chron, sign up for our daily newsletter here.
This article originally published at ‘Not right’: Houston billionaire, ambassador’s Italian yacht tour spurs protests.