Plagued by tourists but hoping for ‘decorum’, Venice will charge day trippers to enter city centre
- The fee will range from €2.50 to €10, with exemptions for students, business travellers and overnight visitors
A measure in Italy’s 2019 budget law will allow the local government in Venice to charge day trippers for access to the city’s historic centre as a way to help defray the considerable costs of maintaining a popular tourist destination built on water, the mayor said.
Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said late Sunday on Twitter that the new visitors’ tax would “allow us to manage the city better and to keep it clean” and “allow Venetians to live with more decorum.”
The City Council will be responsible for setting the charge and determining the collection method. The mayor’s office said it would vary from €2.50 to €10 (US$2.85 to US$11.50) per person, with exemptions for students, people travelling briefly to Venice for work or business and regional residents.
Overnight visitors will not be assessed the new levy. They are currently charged a small “stay” tax per night that varies according to such criteria as season, location and the ages of guests.
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Official estimate that as many as 30 million people visit Venice each year, with about one-fifth spending at least one night in the historic centre of the city, which excludes islands in the lagoon and a mainland.