Planning a trip to Venice? It may now cost you extra bucks. Venice has become the first city in the world to charge an entry fee for tourists. This initiative, applicable since April 26, aims at managing mass tourism, charging day-trippers a fee during the busiest days of the tourist season.

The roughly $5.37 (Rs 447.48) fee is in a trial phase of the reservation-and-fee system.

Why is Venice charging a tourist fee?

The primary reason for the entry fee is to mitigate the negative impacts of overcrowding on Venice’s delicate historical sites and to encourage visitors to choose less congested times for their visits.

Mayor Luigi Brugnaro, in a public video, described this measure as an “experiment” to safeguard the city.

“We do it with great humility,” he said. In a social media post, he added that the rollout was “going well” and “the atmosphere is relaxed.”

“The aim is to find a new balance between tourism and the city of its residents,” Simone Venturini, the local councillor responsible for tourism, told AFP.

“We must work to reduce the impact of daily tourism on certain days… (which) generates stress for the city,” he said.

Simone Venturini added, “The whole world would like to visit Venice, and this is an honour for us. But not everyone in the world is able to do so on the exact same day.”

The city is overwhelmed by tourists – around 30 million arrive each year, dwarfing the fewer than 50,000 residents.

The city was also under pressure from Unesco, which had threatened to add Venice to its World Heritage in Danger list in 2023. The motion to do so was dropped after the city announced plans for the day-tripper tax.

When will the tourist fee be applicable?

The fee is applicable only on select dates between April 25 and July 14, encompassing busy periods and public holidays.

Specifically, the dates are:

April 25-30

May 1-5, 11-12, 18-19, 25-26

June 8-9, 15-16, 22-23, 29-30

July 6-7, 13-14

Payment process for day-trippers

Tourists planning a day visit to Venice during these dates can prepay the entry fee using an online platform. The process involves selecting the visit date, entering the number of visitors, and completing the payment within a 10-minute window. A confirmation document with a QR code is then provided, which can be printed or displayed on a smartphone upon entry.

Exemptions and penalties

Overnight guests in Venice are exempt from this fee but must apply for an official exemption. Failure to comply with the payment requirements can result in fines ranging from $53.63 to $321.77, with additional charges for the entry fee.

There is no cap on the number of tourists who may reserve a visit on a given day.

Opinion divided over Venice’s tourist tax

CNN reported that hundreds of locals participated in a protest at Piazzale Roma, the entry point by road to the city. A smaller protest took place near the main train station, where Venetians confronted the mayor as he gave interviews to various television crews. This protest ended in an embrace with the mayor, according to news reports that captured the confrontation.

“A ticket does nothing. It doesn’t stop the monoculture of tourism. It doesn’t ease the pressure on Venice. It’s a medieval tax and it’s against freedom of movement,” Ruggero Tallon, one of the main protest organisers told CNN.

“I can tell you that almost the entire city is against it,” claimed Matteo Secchi, who leads Venessia.com, a residents’ activist group. “You can’t impose an entrance fee to a city; all they’re doing is transforming it into a theme park. This is a bad image for Venice… I mean, are we joking?”

Federica Toninello, who leads ASC, an association for housing, said, “They think this measure will solve the problem, but they haven’t really understood the consequences of mass tourism on a city like Venice.

“For a start, €5 will do nothing to deter people. But day-trippers aren’t the issue; things like the shortage of affordable housing are… What we need are policies to help residents, for example, making rules to limit things like Airbnb.”

Meanwhile, several social media users hailed the move. 

First Published: Apr 26 2024 | 12:14 PM IST