Venice is the first major city in the world to charge an entrance fee to tourists. The long-planned system came into effect on Thursday, April 25, Reuters wrote.
At Venice’s Santa Lucia train station, signs warn tourists that between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. they have to pay €5 to enter the lagoon city. Through a downloadable application, travelers can choose in advance which day they want to enter the city, and receive a QR code with the ticket, which must then be scanned.
Although there are no turnstiles at the bridges leading into the city, inspectors randomly check those who enter, and fines of between 50 and 300 euros can be imposed on those who have not registered. Those with hotel reservations and visitors under the age of 14 do not have to pay an entrance fee, but they must also register. Residents, students and employees in Venice are exempt from paying fees.
Tourists show the QR code on their smartphone to prove they have paid the entrance fee imposed by the Venice municipality on April 25, 2024 – Photo: Manuel Silvestri / Reuters
Mayor Luigi Brugnaro says the entrance fee is needed to “protect” the World Heritage site from the effects of over-tourism and reduce the number of visitors. The mayor hopes that this will make Venice livable again. “We’re not closing the city, we’re just trying to make it livable,” he said earlier. According to Simone Venturini, the city councilor responsible for tourism, in the future, in certain periods of the year, they may even charge a higher fee for entry.
In addition to introducing an entrance fee, the city banned large pleasure boats from entering the lagoon and announced a new limit on the size of tour groups. According to the municipality of Venice, 5,500 people booked tickets for April 25, the Italian national holiday, which brought an extra 27,500 euros to the city’s coffers on the first day. Although Brugnaro denied that revenue generation was the main goal of the measure, he promised to reduce local taxes for residents if the program is successful.
Not all Venetians are happy with the new entrance fee, according to Federica Toninello, head of the ASC apartment association, the €5 entrance fee will not really deter the hordes of tourists. “The problem isn’t day-trippers, it’s things like the lack of affordable housing. What we really need are policies that help residents, such as making rules that restrict Airbnb and its peers,” he said. According to Matteo Secchi, head of the local patriot activist group Venessia.com, it is not possible to impose an entrance fee on an entire city. “This is just turning the city into an amusement park. It paints a bad picture of Venice,” he told the Guardian.
