Venice applies day visitor entry fee

BTN News
Sunday, 28 April 2024

Authorities in Venice, Italy have started charging an EUR5 'entrance fee' for day trippers, believed to be the first major city in the world to enact such a scheme. 

The charge is aimed at protecting the Unesco world heritage site from the effects of excessive tourism by deterring day trippers and according to mayor Luigi Brugnaro, should help make the city “livable” again.
Not everyone agrees.
 
“Almost the entire city is against it,” claimed Matteo Secchi, who leads Venessia.com, a residents’ activist group. “You can’t impose an entrance fee to a city; all they’re doing is transforming it into a theme park. This is a bad image for Venice.”
 
Venice’s main island has lost more than 120,000 residents since the early 1950s, driven away by issues including mass tourism, which has seen thousands of visitors crowd its squares, bridges and narrow walkways in peak periods.
 
The entrance fee, required only for access to Venice’s historic centre, is bookable on line and will apply on 29 peak days, mostly weekends, from now until 14 July as part of its trial phase.
 
Residents, commuters, students and children under the age of 14 are exempt, as are tourists who stay overnight.

Venice applies day visitor entry fee

BTN News
Sunday, 28 April 2024

Authorities in Venice, Italy have started charging an EUR5 'entrance fee' for day trippers, believed to be the first major city in the world to enact such a scheme. 

The charge is aimed at protecting the Unesco world heritage site from the effects of excessive tourism by deterring day trippers and according to mayor Luigi Brugnaro, should help make the city “livable” again.
Not everyone agrees.
 
“Almost the entire city is against it,” claimed Matteo Secchi, who leads Venessia.com, a residents’ activist group. “You can’t impose an entrance fee to a city; all they’re doing is transforming it into a theme park. This is a bad image for Venice.”
 
Venice’s main island has lost more than 120,000 residents since the early 1950s, driven away by issues including mass tourism, which has seen thousands of visitors crowd its squares, bridges and narrow walkways in peak periods.
 
The entrance fee, required only for access to Venice’s historic centre, is bookable on line and will apply on 29 peak days, mostly weekends, from now until 14 July as part of its trial phase.
 
Residents, commuters, students and children under the age of 14 are exempt, as are tourists who stay overnight.