Devendra Kumar
Day-trippers to Venice on peak visitor weekends next year will have to pay €5 each, the city’s council announced on Tuesday, as part of a pilot scheme aimed at improving the quality of life for its dwindling number of full-time residents. The fee, which will be charged for about 30 days on spring and summer weekends, is meant to dis-incentivize daily tourism during these periods, which are already strained by the city’s fragile infrastructure and unique cultural heritage. The council stressed that the sum is not intended to generate revenue, but rather to manage the influx of tourists, particularly during national holidays and summer weekends.
The pilot scheme will affect day-trippers over the age of 14, excluding those who commute to work in Venice, students, residents of the Veneto region, and those who pay taxes on local property. According to the council, four-fifths of all tourists visiting Venice only come for the day, which means they tend to flock to popular attractions like St Mark’s Square and get caught up in the city’s notorious pedestrian traffic.
This influx of day-trippers not only makes going the city’s narrow streets and bridges a slow and frustrating experience but also disproportionately affects the city’s full-time residents, who are largely priced out of their own city.
The number of day-trippers visiting Venice has been rising steadily since the mid-1960s, with around 19 million visitors in 2019 alone. However, the pandemic brought tourism to near standstill, providing a rare glimpse of a Venice without the chaos and congestion. The city’s residents, who numbered around 110,000 in 1970, had grown to barely 50,000 by last year, as the high cost of living, frequent flooding, and lack of services pushed many to leave. The city’s authorities are now trying to strike a balance between allowing tourists to appreciate Venice’s unique beauty while also preserving the quality of life for its long-term residents.