Day-trip visitors to Venice will be required to pay an entry fee of up to €10/$12 and book their stay in the Italian city in advance.
To control an influx of tourists and deal with infrastructure issues created by over-tourism, Venice authorities have decided to start charging day-trippers between €3 ($4) and €10 ($12) from next summer. This would make the historic Italian city the first in the world to introduce a booking and fee system for entry.
According to the Italian newspaper La Stampa, the fee would depend on the season and visitors will have to go through electronic turnstiles. Visitors who can prove that they are staying overnight in a local hotel, will be exempt from the surcharge, as well as residents, their relatives and children under the age of six. Last week, lawmakers decided to approve the restrictions package, which had been intended to start two years ago but was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Before the pandemic, Venice welcomed up to 80,000 people a day and the city has been struggling to deal with pollution, large crowds and flooding. While the number of visitors has dropped significantly since the Covid-19 outbreak, Venice remains a popular tourist destination.
The decision was made after Venice managed to avoid being put on the UNESCO World Heritage in Danger list two months ago after it decided to ban large cruise ships from entering the city centre to reduce the environmental impacts of tourism.
