Entrance to the famous city with an additional fee. Changes for tourists
Tourists who intend to visit the iconic city in Italy next year will face big changes. The authorities decided to introduce fees for visiting this place.
This year’s season in Italy has already been different for many visitors than before. Florence has introduced person limits, and many Italian beaches have implemented a reservation system and fees for the opportunity to relax. All this to avoid crowds and protect the environment damaged during the holidays.
Venice is going a step further and intends to start charging visitors entrance fees in 2024.
Venice introduces entrance fees
Venice plans to start testing the entrance fee next year. Tourists who want to spend one day there will pay 5 euros (approx. PLN 20) for this pleasure. In this way, the city authorities want to manage the flow of tourists who flock to the place to admire the historic canals.
The fee will be applied on a trial basis for 30 days next year, with particular emphasis on public holidays and summer weekends, when tourist numbers are at their highest. All visitors over 14 years of age will have to pay this fee.
“The aim was to find a balance between the rights of those who live, study or work in Venice and those who visit the city,” said Simone Venturini, Venice’s tourism councilor.
The fee is intended only to cover the costs of administering the program and not to generate any profits.
The program is in the refinement phase
The exact dates of the introduction of the program and the method of its implementation will be determined in September 2023. The plan was already discussed in 2019, but its implementation was postponed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Meanwhile, tourists are pouring into Venice, and their numbers often outnumber the population, which hovers around 50,000. people. Overtourism has long been a problem for a city with a unique and “sensitive” location.
In July, UNESCO experts recommended adding Venice and its lagoon to the list of World Heritage in Danger, saying Italy had not done enough to protect the city from the effects of climate change and mass tourism.
According to local authorities, the number of visitors increased dramatically from 3.4 million in 2009 to 5.5 million in 2019, an increase of over 60%. within a decade. There were fewer visits during the pandemic, but after the restrictions were lifted, the number increased again. Approx. 2/3 of people visiting Venice in 2021 are foreigners, and the most frequently come here are Germans, French, Americans, Austrians and Spaniards.
