Venice Entry Fee for Daily Visitors Will Go Into Effect Next Year

Published by FareCompare on September 11, 2023

Well, it's official: Venice has finally revealed the details for its entry fee, making it the first city in the world to charge day-tripper visitors to access. Starting in spring 2024, visitors to the Italian tourist hotspot will have to pay 5 euros ($5.40) to enter on peak days if they won't be staying in the city overnight.

However, this isn’t a permanent move. The Venice authorities have committed to a 30-day "experiment," according to mayor Luigi Brugnaro, who shared the news on Twitter/X.

Rather than operating over a calendar month, authorities will distribute the "chargeable" days across the year. Those which are predicted to be busiest, for example holiday weekends and peak Carnival periods, will be subject to charge.

In a statement, the council said that "the aim is to discourage day tourism in certain periods." It added that a forthcoming resolution will set out the dates on which the fee will be applicable.

Daytrippers over the age of 14 entering the "old city" of Venice – the entirety of the lagoon city – will have to pay. Exemptions exist for locals, commuters, and those with second homes in the city, who have paid local property tax. Additionally, tourists who are staying overnight in the municipality, and those who are participating in sporting events, will be exempt from the visitor fee. Regardless, those with exemptions will have to register online to book their trip.

Since 2019, Venice city authorities had been debating a "contributo di accesso" (access fee) for all daytrippers, throughout the year, on a sliding scale between 3 euros and 10 euros.

Simone Venturini, the city councilor for tourism, said in a statement that changes had been made from the original proposal after taking onboard the thoughts of citizens and opposition councilors.

"Aware of the urgency to find a new balance between the rights of those who live, work and study in Venice, and those who visit the city, we are setting ourselves up as global frontrunners," he said in a statement. "On certain days and in certain periods, we need innovative management of [soccer] flow, in order to stem daytripper tourism. Tourism management is a priority for the future of our city – a city that will always remain open to everyone."

The money taken in entrance fees will cover the cost of the booking system but nothing more, he added.

It was previously hoped that money could go toward improving facilities and infrastructure for residents, who have to deal with overflowing bins and trash dumped on the streets by tourists, who can outnumber residents by about five to one on busy days.

In July 2022, when the council had announced the start of the system for January 2023, councilor for the economy Michele Zuin had said that proceeds would go to lowering local taxes for residents.

"The message we want to put across is that Venice is open, but visitors must understand that we need proper planning to manage the balance between residence and tourism," said Zuin in a statement this time.

Venturini also predicted that Venice won’t be the last to introduce a charge. "I think many other European cites who live with significant numbers of daytrippers are watching us to understand in what way they can introduce [a similar scheme]," he said.

Venice may be the first city to introduce a fee, but already one village in Italy has introduced a charge for daytrippers. Civita di Bagnoregio introduced a "symbolic" fee of 1.50 euros ($1.67) in 2013. Mayor Francesco Bigiotti planned it as a marketing stunt to attract tourists to his village on a crumbling cliff, known as the "dying town."

The fee intrigued visitors to such an extent that visitors grew from 40,000 in 2009 to 1 million in 2018.

Venice’s well-documented struggles with tourism have resulted in UNESCO drafting a resolution to add the city to its "World Heritage in Peril" list. The resolution will be voted on later this month.