Venice has long groaned under the feet of thousands of tourists who flock to the Italian lagoon city every year. The city government is now testing charging entrance fees for day tourists. It starts next spring.
On particularly busy days and weekends, tourists will have to pay a five-euro entrance fee from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in April, Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said on Thursday. The entrance fee will be charged on a total of 29 days in 2024: from April 25 to 30, from May 1 to 5 and all other weekends (Saturday and Sunday) until July 13 and 14.
This excludes Republic Day weekend (June 1 to 2). Residents and people born in the municipality of Venice, property owners (even if they do not live in Venice), students and employees do not have to pay an entrance fee. For other categories, such as children under 14 years of age, disabled persons and accompanying persons, a booking obligation applies but not a payment obligation.
Day tourists need a QR code
The web platform for bookings will be operational from January 16, 2024. “We will set up entrances that will be manned by our agents and we will randomly ask for a check of the QR code that tourists must have that day. There will be two entrance gates, for residents and non-residents,” said the city boss. The entrance fee does not apply to the smaller islands such as Malamocco and Murano.
“This is an experiment that is unique in the world. The city is complex and vulnerable. We are forced to take measures because there is crowds in the historic center at certain times of the year that we have to reduce. I would like to emphasize once again that this is a test that will cost us more than we earn,” said Mayor Brugnaro.
“Be the first city in the world to intervene”
Tourism councilor Simone Venturini pointed out that “there is no such model in the world”. “We experimented with this system for a long time and had to work on it. It has been a journey of years, we are the first city in the world to try to intervene to regulate mass tourism,” said Venturini.
Money must flow to maintenance
Venice has been fighting the influx of tourists for years and has repeatedly tried different strategies to cope with the massive influx. According to the mayor, the entrance fee mainly goes to the maintenance and cleaning of the city.
Source: Krone
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