A daily rate for tourists was charged for the first time in Venice on Thursday. By Wednesday evening, more than 90,000 people had registered and 8,000 had paid for the five euro ticket.
All visitors who want to go to the lagoon city between 8:30 AM and 4:00 PM must pay the special tax of five euros. To do this, they must purchase a QR code online in advance, which is checked at the main entry points into the city. Citizens from the Veneto region, employees or students are exempt from the tax, but they must register on the online platform. Children under the age of 14, disabled persons and accompanying persons are also required to make a reservation, but do not have to pay.
Reimbursement within 29 days
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 on all other weekends (Saturday and Sunday) until July 13 and 14. This excludes Republic Day weekend (June 1 to 2). If you want to go to the smaller islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello, you don’t need a ticket.
“Very gentle service”
Checkpoints were set up on Thursday at Piazzale Roma near the train station, at the Punta Sabbioni ferry port and in Chioggia. Day tourists caught without a valid ticket risk a fine of between 50 and 300 euros. Mayor Luigi Brugnaro promised on Thursday “very soft controls” that would be arbitrary and should not lead to queues under any circumstances.
“It is an experiment, the first in the world,” said the mayor, who stubbornly defends the controversial measure. “Our goal is not to raise money, but to prevent the city from exploding. We want to make Venice more touristy, because it does not only belong to the Venetians, but to the whole world.” Several gates (no turnstiles) will be installed to intercept the majority of tourists.
Former mayor calls for disobedience
The ex-mayor of Venice, Massimo Cacciari, was critical. He called on tourists to disobey and not pay the entrance ticket, which he said was “unconstitutional”. “It is sheer madness, these measures are completely illegal and unconstitutional. “You don’t pay admission in any city in the world,” Cacciari criticized.
Venice is in danger of dying out
Venice is in danger of dying out under the pressure of mass tourism. In the old city, the number of tourist beds exceeded the number of residents in December. There were 50,016 guest beds and 49,211 residents, the Venessia.com association announced based on data from the city registration office. Including residents of the mainland, Venice has approximately 260,000 inhabitants. More and more people are coming from the old city.
Source: Krone
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