After years of debate, Venice on Thursday began charging daytime visitors five euros to visit its fragile historic center on peak days, making it the first city in the world to adopt such a measure to counter excess of tourism.
Critics wonder whether a nominal fee will deter people from visiting one of the world’s most desirable destinations. But officials hope this may encourage some to rethink their plans and decide to come midweek or in the off-season.
That could help mitigate the impact of the roughly 20 million visitors who arrived last year on the city’s beleaguered residents, who number fewer than 50,000, according to municipal statistics. About half of those visitors came just for the day, city officials said. Overnight guests are exempt from paying the fee.
The spirit of the initiative, city officials have said, is to make people aware of the uniqueness (and fragility) of Venice. Overtourism is creating an economy based solely on tourism that risks killing the city by driving out its increasing number of residents, said Nicola Camatti, an economics professor and tourism expert at Venice’s Ca’ Foscari University. .
When will Venice start charging?
The rate came into effect on Thursday, a public holiday in Italy. By 2024, city officials have selected 29 peak days on which single-day travelers in Venice between 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. will have to pay. The days run until mid-July and are mainly national holidays and weekends. The pay access website provides a list of the dates.
Who should pay?
While almost everyone who visits the city must register for a QR code, not all visitors have to pay the fee. Guests staying overnight in accommodations registered as hotels or Airbnbs are exempt, because they already pay a daily tourist tax, as are people studying or working in Venice and those visiting family. There are other exemptions as well.
Residents of Venice, those born there and those under 14 years of age are among those who do not have to register. But they must have documents proving their status.
Different rates may apply next year on a sliding scale that will depend on how many people city officials expect on a given day. City officials said rates could reach 10 euros a day.
How will the system work?
Before coming to Venice on peak days, visitors must use the website to register and obtain a QR code.
The code will be scanned at points where visitors enter, such as the train station, the city parking lot, the airport and the extensive boardwalk along the San Marco Basin, where ships dock. The access points will have one line for tourists and another for residents and what officials call city users, who come to Venice for reasons other than tourism.
At least for now, those who don’t register in advance can do so at some access points or on their cellphones, officials said. Attendees will be available.
Initially, the controls will be “very soft,” said Michele Zuin, municipal councilor responsible for the city’s budget.
Speaking to reporters at the foreign press association in Rome this month, Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said the fee was not intended to profit from tourists. “The costs of the operation are higher than what we are going to do,” he stated.
Why does Venice do this?
City officials hope to alleviate some of the stress that tourists put on the city by encouraging them to come on less busy days. They also say that by knowing in advance how many visitors to expect, the city can better implement services.
“We want to better manage the number of tourists and discourage mass tourism” that makes it difficult for residents and visitors “to live in this city,” Zuin said this month.
To track the flow of visitors, the city already monitors them through phone location data and surveillance cameras, a system that some critics have compared to Big Brother.
Venice has also fallen under the scrutiny of the United Nations cultural agency, UNESCO, whose experts are concerned that not enough is being done to protect the city. Last year, Venice risked being added to UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites in Danger after the agency’s experts listed mass tourism, along with climate change and development, as a major threat. for your future. He urged the City Council to take measures to alleviate the damage.
The municipal council approved the access fee just days before UNESCO voted on its status, and Venice remained off the “in danger” list. But UNESCO officials said in a statement that “further progress still needs to be made” to preserve Venice.
Critics of the access fee point out that officials have not limited the number of visitors and say the nominal fee is not a deterrent. As recently as Friday, city officials said about 80,000 visitors packed the city’s narrow streets, as the streets are known, and gardens for the 2024 Venice Biennale, which remains the world’s top venue for discover new art.
How else is Venice trying to restrict visitors?
Venice has also taken other measures that it hopes will reduce what city officials call “mordi e fuggi” tourism, or “eat and flee,” referring to those seeking the city’s biggest hits (the Rialto Bridge and the St. Mark’s Square) and who bring with them prepare lunches and throw away their garbage, contributing little to the local economy.
After years of heated debate and protests from vocal Venetians, the city banned cruise ships on its inland canals in 2021, although Camatti, the tourism expert, said the ban on the boats had not reduced the number of daytime visitors.
This year, the city imposed a limit of 25 people per tour group and also banned the use of megaphones.