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From the end of April 2024, visitors will have to pay an entrance fee.
AdvertisementVenice-goers who fail to pay 5 euros to enter the historic center of the city of Ligon will face fines starting at 10 times the entrance fee, officials said on Thursday.
The payment system is being launched later this month for a limited-time pilot program.
Venice announced last year that it would introduce a long-debated day-tripper fee after the city narrowly escaped being added to the United Nations’ list of endangered cultural heritage sites, largely due to the effects of overtourism.
Visitors staying overnight in the historic center are exempt from the charge as they already pay the tourist tax.
How will Venice’s new entry fee work?
Officials have avoided calling the new charge a tax, opting for softer wording. Partnership.
They have also reduced the likelihood of waiting to enter the city, stressing that there will be no turnstiles or physical barriers.
But during a press briefing, Mayor Luigi Brugnaro suggested that lines could form at official entry points, and used the word tax to describe the fee.
Bergnaro said officials are trained to verify this. The tourist Those not living in Venice have either a QR code confirming payment of the fee or an exemption voucher.
Visitors arriving at main train and bus stations will be met by stewards who will remind visitors of the new requirement and assist anyone who has not yet downloaded the QR code.
Payment points will be set up for anyone without a smartphone.
Anyone found outside the designated control points without the required documents will be fined, Brugnaro said.
These will range from €50 to €300, and more Entrance fee Allowed by law, set at €10.
“There is no tax without control,” Bergnaro told foreign reporters in Rome. He said visitors would be subject to random, not systematic, checks.
“If someone pretends to be Batman and tries to get in, and gets in at all, he doesn’t win a medal from me, but let’s just thank him for his badassness,” Meyer said. Will,” said the mayor.
Officials have emphasized that the program aims to reduce Crowds On peak days, encourage longer trips and improve the quality of life for residents.
No fee is required for anyone staying inside. VeniceIncluding the mainland districts of Murghira and Mestre. The Venetian islands, including glassmaker Murano, are also excluded from the pilot program.
The fee is being tested over 29 days, starting with the Italian national holiday on April 25. It will be in effect from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. through mid-July, including most weekends.
No maximum number of visitors has been fixed at this stage.
AdvertisementVenice is launching an advertising campaign to inform visitors of the new responsibility, featuring Brugnaro speaking different languages with the help of artificial intelligence. Visitors can register on the website, www.cda.ve.itwhich is working in five languages.
Exemptions will be issued for various reasons, including access to the city for work, school or medical care, as well as to people born in Venice and residents of the Veneto region.
Why has Venice introduced a new entry fee?
Venus is suffering from chronic stress. OvertourismBut officials say pre-pandemic estimates of 25 to 30 million visitors a year — including day trippers — are unreliable and that the pilot project is intended to help better manage the trend. There is also more accurate data to come.
By contrast, registered overnight visitors last year were 4.6 million, down 16 percent from pre-pandemic highs, according to city data.
The pandemic was delayed. VeniceThere are plans to introduce a day tripper tax, which has become a keystone of the city’s efforts to combat overtourism.
AdvertisementUNESCO cited the project when it decided last September not to add the city to its list of World Heritage Sites in Danger, a taint it removed from the St. Mark’s Basin and Giudecca Canal two years ago. The cruise ship ban was avoided through
Cruise ship 2019 brought 1.6 million people to Venice.
Activists issued a warning last summer after the number of tourist beds officially outstripped the number of residents, falling below 50,000 in a decades-old trend.
The imbalance, they say, drains the city of services, clogs its narrow streets and water buses with suitcase-loading tourists and pushes residents with their amenities to the mainland. .
