09/13/2023 09:26 (current 09/13/2023 09:28)
Venice is testing a 5-euro entry fee for day tourists this spring. ©Canva.com (subject)
From next spring, Venice will test a controversial fee system for day tourists in order to limit the number of visitors to the world heritage city. Day-trippers are charged a fee of five euros to enter the historic center. The Venice city council decided this on Tuesday night.
The objective is to “end daytime tourism at certain times” in the Italian lagoon city.
Failure to pay the daily entrance fee to Venice: fines of up to 300 euros
The local council initially agreed to a 30-day testing phase, which is expected to extend to holidays and weekends in the spring and summer of 2024. It will be expanded later. Exact dates are still open. The plan now is for day visitors to be able to obtain a QR code online and load it onto their cell phone, which must be shown during checks. Otherwise, there are penalties of between 50 and 300 euros. Residents, travelers, students and children under 14, as well as tourists staying overnight in the city are exempt from the entry fee, it said in a statement.
It is “necessary to regulate tourist flows during certain periods”, explained Mayor Luigi Brugnaro. But this does not mean that the city will be “closed”. “Venice will always be open to everyone.”
UNESCO declared Venice and its lagoons a World Heritage Site in 1987. At the end of July, UNESCO recommended that the city be classified as a world cultural heritage site in danger. The Italian lagoon city is threatened with “irreversible” damage if the Italian authorities do not do more to protect it, the UN cultural organization justified its recommendation. The world cultural organization UNESCO is currently discussing whether Venice should be placed on the list of “endangered world cultural heritage”. The decision is expected to be made this month.