The municipality of Venice announced this Thursday the extension of paid admission to visit the Italian city during the day from 2025, a controversial tax presented as an experiment to combat overtourism. Since April 25, day tourists must present a five-euro entrance ticket to access the Doge City, a world first that until now only concerned 29 busy days, between April and July.
In 2025, this period will be extended to 54 days from April 18, the mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro, announced on the 10th.
Locals and tourists who sleep at least one night there will be exempt from this tax.
A first step in the management of tourist flows
For Luigi Brugnaro, who described this project as a “first step” in the management of tourist flows, the initiative aims to convince tourists to choose periods of less influx to visit Venice. The sesame, which comes in the form of a QR code purchased online, must be presented at the main entry points to the Serenissima.
But for its detractors, this tax is insufficient to combat excess tourism and, at best, allows the city’s finances to be replenished.
With its famous monuments, gondolas and picturesque canals, Venice is one of the most visited cities in the world. At peak times, 100,000 tourists sleep there, in addition to tens of thousands of daily visitors. Compare this to the approximately 50,000 inhabitants of the city center, which continues to depopulate.
Given the damage caused by excessive tourism and the lack of adequate measures to stop it, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) had threatened to include the city in the list of “heritage world in danger”.
Source: BFM TV