April 25, historically significant for Venice as Italy’s Liberation Day and the feast day of its patron saint, St. Mark, now marks another milestone in the city’s history. Venice has become the world’s first city to impose an entry fee on day-trippers, a move aimed at managing overtourism and preserving the city’s delicate ecosystem.
The “contributo di accesso” or “access contribution,” as it’s styled, came into effect at 8 a.m. today, marking the start of a pilot project by the city council. Under this scheme, any tourist visiting Venice for the day, except residents of the Veneto region, must pay a 5 euro ($5.40) fee if they arrive between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
While overnight tourists are exempt from this fee, they are required to register their presence to claim the exemption. Only residents of Venice and those born in the city are completely exempt from the fee.
On the inaugural day of the scheme, 82,000 individuals registered for entry, a significant number considering it coincided with a national holiday in Italy. However, only a fraction, approximately one in 10, actually paid the fee. The majority registered exemptions, including over 30,000 hotel guests, 15,000 commuters, 11,000 students, and nearly 10,000 Veneto residents.
The introduction of the registration scheme has highlighted the housing crisis faced by Venetian residents, with thousands of second home owners registering for entry on the first day alone. With the city’s resident population dwindling, concerns about the impact of overtourism on housing have been further exacerbated.
In anticipation of the influx of visitors, the city council implemented checkpoints outside train and bus terminals, with separate lines for residents, exemptions, and fee-paying visitors. A booth was also set up at the train station for arrivals to pay the fee or register for an exemption.
The fee will be enforced on 29 days until mid-July, after which the city council will review the effectiveness of the pilot project. However, the move has sparked controversy among Venetians, who fear the city may be transformed into a theme park and resent the requirement to register guests.
As protests against the fee erupted among some locals, fully booked trains continued to pour into the city from major Italian cities like Milan and Rome. Critics argue that the fee fails to address the underlying issue of overtourism and suggest alternative solutions, such as limiting visitor numbers or incentivizing longer stays through discounts.
With the number of visitors expected to rise in the coming days, the debate over Venice’s tourism management strategies is likely to intensify, raising questions about the balance between preserving the city’s cultural heritage and accommodating the demands of mass tourism.
Leave a Reply