VENICE TO CHARGE ENTRY FEE
The Municipal Council of Venice has announced that from next year (2024) a €5 tax will be levied on day trippers visiting the lagoon city. The objective is to discourage the mass invasion of crowds who pass only a few hours in the city, spend next to nothing, leave piles of rubbish to be disposed of and bring no benefit to the city itself. At present, the number of Venice-in-a-Day tourists who arrive every day in the city is almost double that of the residential population.
The tax will be introduced on an experimental basis during traditional holiday periods in spring 2024. Residents, local workers and employees as well as students enrolled in the city university, will be exempt. Visitors with hotel bookings will also not be charged as they already pay tourism tax as part of their accommodation package.
Payment must be made in advance online but full details have not yet been released.
Venice and its lagoon have just recently narrowly escaped being added to the UNESCO list of endangered sites, due to the problems of mass tourism, climate change and threats to the eco system. With the introduction of the entry tax, the city hopes to limit the damages caused by the first of these problems. The activation of the massive “Mose” dam across the lagoon is also proving positive in restricting the periodic flooding that plagued the city centre.
Info: visit-venice.italy
