Venice is the first city in the world to adopt such a system: until July, those who do not spend the night have to pay 5 euros each.
The purpose of the tax, according to the authorities, is to protect the UNESCO world heritage from the effects of excessive tourism, a phenomenon that Venice has been dealing with for several years. According to Mayor Luigi Brugnaro, this method will make the city “livable” again, as it will discourage people from coming just for a day.
“I can tell you that almost the whole city is against it,” said Matteo Secchi, who runs Venessia.com, a residents’ activist group. “You can’t impose an entry tax on a city. All they do is turn it into a theme park. This is a bad image for Venice… I mean, is this a joke?” he continued.
The president of another tenants’ association stated, for her part, that “the measure will not solve the problem”.
“They didn’t really understand the consequences of mass tourism on a city like Venice. First of all, 5 euros will not deter people. But day trips aren’t the problem, things like the lack of affordable housing are… What we need are policies to help residents, for example, create rules to limit things like Airbnb,” said Federica Toninello, who heads the ASC.
Fines of up to 300 euros
The entrance fee, which is only required for access to the historic center of Venice, can be paid online and is applied over 29 days, mostly on weekends, from Thursday, April 25 to July 14, in a first phase, the project trial.
Residents, commuters, students and children under 14 are exempt, as are overnight tourists. In addition to the online purchase, the fee can also be paid at the entrance to the old center of Venice. Those who do not hold a ticket risk fines between 50 and 300 euros.
5,500 people bought their ticket for the first day
The local council of Venice stated that 5,500 people had booked a ticket for April 25, a national holiday in Italy. In other words, they brought 27,500 euros to the city budget on the first day.
Although Brugnaro denied it was a for-profit initiative, he promised to lower local taxes for residents if the scheme was successful.
Despite the criticism, Venice tourism councilor Simone Venturini said the administration felt “very relaxed” about “this venture”.
“For the first time since Venice has been targeted by mass tourism we are trying to do something,” he said.
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