Venice to back €5 fee for day-trip tourists

Venice is expected to approve the trial of a €5 (£4.30) fee for daily visitors, in the hope that the city can control tourism. 

All visitors over the age of 14 will have to pay the charge and book their entry to the city in advance. 

The trial will run during peak tourist periods next year. 

“Venice is among the most visited European cities… [and so] suffers the most from excess tourism,” Simone Venturini, City council member for tourism, has said. 

Over tourism is an urgent issue for Venice, despite being a small city it hosted almost 13 million visitors in 2019, according to the Italian National Statistics Institute. In the coming years, the number of tourists are expected to exceed pre-pandemic levels. 

“The objective is to invite daily tourists to choose [off-peak] days,” Venturini said. Tourists who stay overnight in the city will be exempt.

“We want to test [the fee] and, if needed, improve it. We cannot discuss for [an]other 40 years what’s best to do.”