Venice will test a five-euro tax from 2024 aimed at tourists who come for just a day in the Doge’s city, a victim of mass tourism and at risk of being added to UNESCO’s list of world heritage sites in danger this month.
The main aim of this measure, voted on by the Venice City Council on Tuesday, is to prevent day visitors from contributing to the congestion of the city, known throughout the world for its works of art, its bridges and its canals.
In 2024, this tax, payable online, will only affect a maximum of 30 days when the number of tourists is traditionally higher, especially on weekends with bridges in spring and summer. The calendar for the relevant days will be published later. Persons under the age of 14 and tourists who spend at least one night on site are exempt from this tax.
“It’s a first step (…) We’re doing an experiment,” said right-wing mayor Luigi Brugnaro, promising that the “system will be easy to use.”
The green light for this measure comes after the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recommended at the end of July that the Serenissima be placed on the list of world heritage in danger, as Italy has so far taken “inadequate” measures to protect it to counteract deterioration of the site.
“The further development (of Venice), the effects of climate change and mass tourism threaten to irreversibly alter the exceptional universal value of property,” criticized UNESCO.
Rising sea levels and other “extreme weather phenomena” related to global warming “threaten the integrity” of the site, UNESCO also warned.
For now, UNESCO’s statement is indicative: for Venice to actually be included on the List of Cultural Heritage in Danger, the consent of the Member States present is required at a meeting of the World Heritage Committee, which is currently taking place in Riyadh.
“Open-air museum”
The timing of the vote on this tax could not be more convenient for Venice, as the country has for years been delaying drastic measures, in particular the introduction of compulsory reservations and the introduction of a quota on the number of entries into the city, in order to contain the increase of millions of tourists in the saturated historic center.
The municipal opposition did not fail to highlight the sudden “haste” of this measure to “show UNESCO that we are doing something”. “A tax of five euros will not stop anyone from coming to Venice,” said city councilor Gianfranco Bettin.
UNESCO had also stigmatized “the lack of a global common strategic vision” and the “low efficiency and coordination” of Italian local and national authorities. “This registration will lead to greater engagement and mobilization of local, national and international stakeholders,” she hoped.
Venice, an island city founded in the 5th century that became a major sea power in the 10th century, stretches across 118 islands. This extraordinary site was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.
La Serenissima is one of the most visited cities in the world. At peak times, 100,000 tourists stay there, in addition to tens of thousands of day visitors. Compare the approximately 50,000 residents of the city center, which is becoming increasingly depopulated.
“We are still doing too much mass tourism and not sustainable tourism to the detriment of the population.” “Venice must not be turned into an open-air museum,” a UNESCO diplomat told AFP in July.
In addition to mass tourism, Venice and its lagoon suffer from flooding, which regularly inundates St. Mark’s Square and weakens the foundations of its buildings.