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International Edition

Venice’s Overtourism Threatens Its World Heritage Status

August 1st, 2023 at 1:18 AM EDT

Italian tourism boards, airlines, hotels, and tour operators need to be vocal to save the lagoon city from potential climate risks before it's too late.

Amrita Ghosh

UNESCO experts have recommended that Venice and its lagoon be added to its list of World Heritage in Danger as Italy is not doing enough to protect the city from the impact of climate change and mass tourism.

UNESCO World Heritage Centre experts regularly review the state of the UN cultural agency’s 1,157 World Heritage sites, and at a meeting in Riyadh in September, a committee of 21 UNESCO member states will review more than 200 sites and decide which to add to the danger list.

For nearly 10 of these sites, the experts recommend that member states put them on the danger list, among which already are the historic center of Odessa, Ukraine, the town of Timbuktu in Mali, and several sites in Syria, Iraq and Libya.

Other sites recommended to be put on the danger list this year are the cities of Kyiv and Lviv in Ukraine.

“Resolution of long-standing but urgent issues is hindered by a lack of overall joint strategic vision for the long-term preservation of the property and low effectiveness of integrated coordinated management at all stakeholder levels,” UNESCO said.

UNESCO said corrective measures proposed by the Italian state are “currently insufficient and not detailed enough.” It added that Italy “has not been communicating in a sustained and substantive manner since its last Committee session in 2021, when UNESCO had already threatened to blacklist Venice .

The agency said it hoped that “such inscription will result in greater dedication and mobilization” of local and national stakeholders to address long-standing issues.

A spokesperson for the Venice municipality told Reuters the city “will carefully read the proposed decision published today by the Center for UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee and will discuss it with the government.”

Venice, known for its canals and cultural sites, has been struggling with mass tourism for years. On a single day during the 2019 Carnival, some 193,000 people squeezed into the historic center. Venice has been preparing to introduce a fee for day-trippers to control visitor numbers, but has been delayed by objections.

(Reporting by Geert De Clercq and Augustin Turpin in Paris, Federica Urso in Rome; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Copyright (2023) Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions

This article was from Reuters and was legally licensed through the Industry Dive Content Marketplace . Please direct all licensing questions to [email protected] .

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Tags: heritage , tourism , unesco , venice

Photo credit: Venice, known for its canals and cultural sites, has been struggling with mass tourism for years. Reuters

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Compass & Pine

The Ultimate Travel Guide

Venice Overtourism: How a Small City is Dealing With Mass Tourism

In the heart of the city, St. Mark’s Square and the Rialto Bridge have transformed from cultural landmarks to tourist traps, swarming with day trippers who contribute little to the local economy. The small city, once a serene escape, now grapples with the consequences of mass tourism—a term that’s become synonymous with visiting Venice.

But this isn’t just a story of overcrowded plazas and selfie sticks. It’s a narrative that delves into the very fabric of Venice, questioning how a city built on stilts can sustain the weight of its own popularity. From the visitor tax aimed at mitigating the flood of tourists to the more literal floods exacerbated by climate change, Venice is at a tipping point.

So, as we navigate through this intricate issue, we’ll explore the tension between tourism and sustainability, the impact on the local economy, and the ethical considerations of visiting a city that’s sinking under its own fame. Buckle up; it’s going to be a riveting journey.

• What is Causing Venice's Overtourism?
• Overtourism's Toll on Venice

How Venice is Countering Overcrowding

• Venice's Dance with UNESCO and the Failure to Act

Venice Tourist Tax

• Venice's Most Visited Landmarks

How To Visit Venice Responsibly

• Frequently Asked Questions on Venice's Tourists

1. Why is Venice experiencing overtourism?

2. what are the main consequences of overtourism in venice, 3. what steps are being taken to combat overtourism, 4. how can i visit venice responsibly, 5. is it ethical to visit venice given the current overtourism issue, related posts.

What is Causing Venice’s Overtourism?

At its core, Venice overtourism is a tale of excess—a city drowning under the weight of its own popularity. Imagine, if you will, a staggering 20 million souls descending upon this small city each year.

On peak days, the visitor count swells to 120,000, starkly contrasting the mere 55,000 who call Venice home. The irony? Most of these pilgrims are drawn like moths to the flame of iconic landmarks like the Rialto Bridge and St. Mark’s Square , further compacting their presence into an already cramped space. The result is a cityscape that’s not just crowded but also crumbling, its infrastructure gasping for air.

But let’s not kid ourselves; this isn’t merely a Venetian tragedy. The same plot unfolds in Barcelona, Reykjavik, and Dubrovnik. The culprits? The unholy trinity of low-cost aviation, mammoth cruise ships, and the rise of home-sharing platforms.

Add to this the phenomenon of the “day tripper”—those who breeze through the city like a whirlwind, barely touching the ground. They’re the ultimate paradox: visitors who don’t really “visit Venice.” They snap a few photos, buy some kitschy souvenirs , and vanish, leaving nary a ripple in the local economy.

And what of those who do linger for a night or two? They’re part of the problem, too. With property prices soaring to stratospheric levels, what could be family homes or affordable rentals are morphing into cash cows for vacation stays. The result? A city where only the well-heeled can afford the luxury of residency.

So, as we peel back the layers of this complex issue, we find a web of contributing factors, each more intricate than the last. It’s a narrative that begs the question: How can Venice reclaim its soul while still extending an open arm to the world?

Overtourism’s Toll on Venice

Imagine being a local Venetian, waking up to the cacophony of rolling suitcases and the incessant clicks of selfie sticks. Your daily commute isn’t just a walk; it’s an obstacle course through throngs of tourists who think it’s cute to swim in canals or have a picnic on ancient bridges. You’re not just navigating streets; you’re navigating a minefield of disrespect. The city you once knew—the city you love—is now a playground for visitors who leave more than just footprints; they leave scars.

But the wounds run deeper than mere inconvenience. The very essence of Venice is being diluted, its artisan spirit eroded by the tidal wave of tourism. Walk into a bar, and the music caters not to the local ear but to the tourist’s playlist. The food, the merchandise, the very air you breathe—it’s all been commodified, repackaged for mass consumption. And what’s left for the locals? A city that’s increasingly inhospitable to its own.

The job market? Forget about it. Unless you’re in the tourism industry, good luck finding work. And so, we arrive at the inevitable outcome: depopulation. Venice, once a bustling city of over 120,000 souls, has dwindled to a mere 55,000. Projections are even grimmer; by 2030, some say, the city could be devoid of full-time residents. Jonathan Keates, chairman of Venice in Peril, warns that if the population dips below 40,000, we’re looking at a city that’s essentially a museum—a relic of its former self.

So, as we wade through the murky waters of Venice overtourism, we’re forced to confront an uncomfortable truth: the city is at risk of losing not just its character but its very lifeblood. And that, my friends, is a tragedy we cannot afford to ignore.

In a move that’s both applauded and criticized, the Italian government swung the hammer in 2017, banning cruise ships weighing over 55,000 tonnes from sailing into St. Mark’s Basin and the Giudecca Canal starting 2021.

The behemoths of the sea will now have to dock their hulking masses in Marghera, a mainland port. It’s a step, albeit a contentious one, toward reclaiming Venice’s fragile waterways. But it’s not just to reduce crowds, banning tourist ships has helped with Venice’s flooding issues .

Then there’s Mayor Luigi Brugnaro, a man walking a tightrope between preservation and public outcry. In 2018, he unveiled a divisive plan to control the human tide flooding Venice’s iconic landmarks.

Imagine this: turnstiles at the Rialto Bridge and St. Mark’s Square, diverting tourists like cattle while allowing only locals and business folks to traverse the city’s arterial routes. And if you dare to roll into Venice in your car without pre-booked parking? You might as well U-turn at the Ponta della Liberta. The mayor didn’t stop there; he slapped fines on everything from noisy wheelie suitcases to public picnics.

But not everyone’s singing the mayor’s tune. In a dramatic act of defiance, protesters tore down the newly erected turnstiles, their chants of “Free Venice” echoing through the city’s ancient corridors. Activist Marco Baravalle summed it up: “Venice is dying… The mayor’s turnstiles signify surrender—a Venice devoid of its lifeblood.”

So here we are, at the crossroads of preservation and freedom, each path fraught with its own set of challenges and ethical dilemmas.

Venice’s Dance with UNESCO and the Failure to Act

Overtourism in Venice isn’t yesterday’s news; it’s a haunting refrain that’s been echoing for years. UNESCO, the global guardian of heritage, has been sounding the alarm bells since 2014. They gave Italy a two-year ultimatum to get its act together, demanding a sustainable tourism strategy and a coordinated approach to preserve Venice’s ‘outstanding universal value.’ Fast forward to 2017, and the city found itself teetering on the edge of UNESCO’s ‘sites in danger’ list—a fate deferred, but not dismissed, until 2018.

The inertia is maddening, to say the least. Just ask Justin Francis, CEO of Responsible Travel, who can barely contain his exasperation: “How did we get here? How did this jewel of a city end up on the brink?” For years, Venice has been unable to stem the tide of tourists pouring in from cruise ships and Airbnb rentals. The result? A city divided, its social fabric torn between residents and visitors. “Venice has been reduced to a theme park,” Francis laments. “Tourism should be a bridge, not a wall. It should unite locals and tourists in a symbiotic relationship, not segregate them.”

So, as the sands of time slip through our fingers, we’re left grappling with a Venice that’s at a critical juncture. The question isn’t just how to save the city, but how to restore its soul in a way that honors both its residents and its global admirers.

The Venice Tourist Tax is a fee that visitors must pay to enter the city. Initially planned to be implemented in January 2022, the tax has been postponed multiple times and is now expected to be in effect by at least 2024. The tax will range from 3 to 10 euros, depending on the tourist flow on a given day.

The tax aims to control the number of visitors and better manage the city’s resources. The tax will not apply to those staying in hotels within Venice, as they already pay a local city tax. Various exemptions are in place, including for residents, students, and those in Venice for official business. Fines for non-compliance will range from 100 to 450 euros.

Update 09.13.2023:

Venice’s city council has approved the daytime tax for visitors. Starting in 2024, day visitors will be required to pay 5 euros ($5.38) to visit the city.

This tax will be in effect for 30 non-consecutive days, primarily during long weekends in the spring and regular weekends in the summer. The exact dates will be announced soon.

The tax is aimed at protecting Venice from the detrimental effects of mass tourism. Overnight travelers are exempt from this tax but are subject to a separate tourist tax introduced in 2011. The overnight travelers tax ranges from 1 to 5 euros per person per night for the first five nights.

The mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro, has stated that this tax is an experiment to manage overtourism without causing harm.

#ConsiglioComunale | Approvato il Regolamento per il contributo d’accesso per i turisti giornalieri! Faremo una sperimentazione con grande umiltà e cercheremo di non danneggiare nessuno. È una delle azioni che abbiamo messo in campo per proteggere la Città del turismo di… pic.twitter.com/LJ9iSqmT9d — Luigi Brugnaro (@LuigiBrugnaro) September 12, 2023

Venice’s Most Visited Landmarks

• St. Mark’s Square (Piazza San Marco) : The grand living room of Venice, a must-see that’s often the first stop for any visitor.
• St. Mark’s Basilica : An architectural marvel that is a testament to Venice’s opulence and Byzantine influences.
• Doge’s Palace (Palazzo Ducale) : A symbol of the city’s former maritime might and political prowess.
• Rialto Bridge : The oldest and most iconic bridge spanning the Grand Canal, a bustling hub of commerce and photography.
• Grand Canal : Venice’s main waterway, best experienced by vaporetto or a romantic gondola ride.
• Bridge of Sighs : A baroque beauty with a melancholic history, connecting the Doge’s Palace to the old prisons.
• Santa Maria della Salute : A stunning baroque church that dominates the Venetian skyline.
• Gallerie dell’Accademia : Home to an impressive collection of Venetian art from the Middle Ages to the 18th century.
• Murano Island : Famous for its centuries-old tradition of glassmaking.
• Burano Island : Known for its colorful houses and intricate lacework.
• Lido : Venice’s beach, a break from the city’s labyrinthine canals and narrow streets.
• Teatro La Fenice : One of the most famous opera houses in Italy, a phoenix risen from the ashes—literally.
• Scuola Grande di San Rocco : A masterpiece of Tintoretto, showcasing some of his finest works.
• Jewish Ghetto : The world’s first ghetto, a poignant reminder of Venice’s complex history.

• Off-Peak Visits : Consider visiting Venice during the shoulder seasons. Fewer crowds mean a more authentic experience and less strain on local resources.
• Stay Local : Opt for locally-owned accommodations over large hotel chains or Airbnb rentals that drive up property prices for residents.
• Spend Wisely : Invest in the local economy by dining at local restaurants, shopping at local markets, and hiring local guides.
• Mindful Movement : Avoid cruise ships and consider arriving by train or eco-friendly modes of transport. Once there, walk or use public vaporettos rather than private water taxis.
• Cultural Respect : Learn a few basic phrases in Italian, understand local customs, and respect public spaces. No picnicking on bridges or swimming in canals, please.
• Low-Impact Exploration : Stick to the less-trodden paths. Visit lesser-known landmarks and neighborhoods to spread the tourist load.
• Sustainable Souvenirs : Buy locally-made crafts and products rather than mass-produced trinkets. Murano glass or Burano lace, anyone?
• Leave No Trace : Dispose of your waste properly. Venice has a fragile ecosystem that’s easily disrupted by litter.
• Educate Yourself : Before you go, read up on Venice’s history, culture, and the challenges it faces. Knowledge is the first step toward empathy and responsible action.
• Advocate and Share : Use your social media platforms to educate others about responsible travel. Your influence can make a difference.
• Support Local Initiatives : Contribute to local organizations working to preserve Venice’s cultural and natural heritage.
• Be Mindful of Photography : Respect people’s privacy and property when taking photos. Not everything needs to be Instagrammed.

For more information, read our guide to the best times to visit Venice .

Frequently Asked Questions on Venice’s Tourists

Venice is a victim of its own allure—a city so captivating that it draws millions each year. The rise of low-cost airlines, cruise ships, and home-sharing platforms like Airbnb have made it easier than ever to “visit Venice,” exacerbating the problem. The city’s small size and fragile ecosystem make it particularly vulnerable to the negative impacts of mass tourism.

The repercussions are manifold, affecting both the physical city and its community. Landmarks like St. Mark’s Square and the Rialto Bridge are overcrowded, leading to wear and tear. The local economy is skewed towards tourism, making it hard for residents to find non-tourism jobs. This has led to depopulation, as locals move away in search of better opportunities.

Various measures have been implemented, such as banning large cruise ships from certain canals and introducing visitor taxes. The Mayor has also proposed controlling access to popular sites and fining inappropriate behavior. However, these steps have been met with mixed reactions, and the effectiveness remains to be seen.

Being a responsible traveler involves making conscious choices. Visit during off-peak seasons, stay in locally-owned accommodations, and spend your money at local businesses. Be respectful of the city’s cultural heritage and natural environment. Educate yourself about the issues Venice faces and consider how your actions can either contribute to the problem or be part of the solution.

This is a complex question with no easy answer. On one hand, tourism is a significant part of Venice’s economy. On the other, the city is clearly struggling under the weight of its own popularity. The key is to visit in a way that minimizes your negative impact and maximizes your positive contributions to the local community and environment.

As we navigate the labyrinthine canals and complexities of Venice overtourism, it’s clear that the city stands at a critical juncture. The choices we make today—as travelers, as policymakers, as global citizens—will echo through the annals of Venice’s history. But let’s not forget, Venice isn’t just a city; it’s a living, breathing entity that embodies the collective memory and dreams of humanity. It’s a place that deserves not just our admiration but also our utmost respect and care. So, as you ponder your next journey, consider how you can be a part of Venice’s preservation, not its downfall. The city’s future, in many ways, is in our hands. We invite you to join this crucial conversation. What are your thoughts on overtourism in Venice? How can we, as a global community, contribute to the city’s sustainability? Share your insights, experiences, and suggestions in the comments below. Let’s come together to write the next chapter in Venice’s storied history—a chapter that speaks of revival, respect, and responsible travel.

Venice Flooding: Why Is Venice Sinking?

Venice faces rising sea tides that could destroy this ancient city. Learn about the causes of the flooding, what Venice is doing to stop it, and more.

Venice Alternatives Around the World

As you plan your next trip abroad, consider these cities as Venice alternatives. Each location offers a unique take on Venetian romance and wonder. Read more.

About Todd O'Rourke

Todd is an award-winning writer and filmmaker who co-founded Compass and Pine with his dog Leg. Together, they have traveled extensively throughout the United States and Europe, with their base of operations in Philadelphia.

He started Compass and Pine after living in Vicenza, Italy for three years and falling deeply in love with the country, the people, and, of course, the food.

His favorite city is Florence, Italy, and his favorite National Park is Olympic in Washington.

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Why tourism in Venice is doing more harm than good and what we can do about it

The current state of tourism is hurting venice.

The ever-increasing offering of low-cost travel transportation, housing, and planning has helped the tourism industry to boom in the past decades.

The year 2019 alone counted over 1.5 billion international arrivals.

However, most major stakeholders of the tourism industry focus on profit, not on sustainability.

Today, tourism hotspots are affected by mass tourism – when visitors arrive in masses of tens of thousands of people – and the industry in the most popular destination has turned into a problem, rather than a resource. Venice is one of them, and it is suffering a lot.

Venice residents dropped from 175.000 in 1951 to 50.000 in 2022. Why?

Data shows that the population in Venice has been constantly decreasing for several decades.

Several factors can explain why this is happening:

• An increased cost of living
• Higher cost of housing
• A decrease in quality of life (traditional shops replaced by low-quality souvenir shops, constant, for example)
• Lack of spaces for the youth
• Lack of rewarding job opportunities

All of the above can be linked directly to the impact caused by the dramatic increase in mass tourism in Venice.

Indeed, some local entrepreneurs and several foreign investors exploit this situation to target tourists and generate great profits. Meanwhile, authentic activities and shops have and are being strangled by: ever-increasing rents, a constantly decreasing market size of the local population, and the competition of tourist traps seducing tourists with their cheap mass-produced products or frozen food.

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Venice is a beautiful and unique city that must and can only be preserved by locals, who are the only people with the knowledge (and love) necessary to do so.

This is why one of the biggest threats to the survival of Venice is the disappearance of its citizens.

Without citizens, Venice loses the mastery and the know-how that keeps and kept Venice alive for thousands of years.

Alas, however, younger generations are forced to move out of the historical centre because they can not find rewarding jobs and unaffordable housing, having to give up on their dream of living in their city.

Currenlty, the Venice I.V. (“indice di vecchiaia” or “age index”, which represents the ratio between people over 64 and children under 15) is well above 2,80.

In other words, there are almost 3 people over 64 for every child under 15.

This, coupled with a 35% decrease in the population aged 20 to 34 between 2001 and 2011 (just 10 years!), does not leave much hope for the city.

To give Venice a chance of survival, strong measures must be taken to repopulate the city.

The above trend represents the number of locals and the number of tourists in Venice since 1950.

One of the reasons behind the constant increase of tourism arrivals is the decrease of international transportation.

Since 2015, Venice counts up to 30 million stays every year. And that in a city of fewer than 8 km 2 (or 3 square miles)!

This increase, however, has also been coupled with a decrease in the average length of the stat of tourists and a shift of touristic behaviour that is harming deeply Venetian inhabitants and local businesses.

These changes in tourism and the daily saturation of tourists within the city has led to an invasion of mass-produced souvenir shops and tourist traps, that are putting many local enterprises and artisans’ shops out of business by causing an increase in the cost of living and renting.

The consequences of this are a decrease in life quality and opportunities for the locals, as well as a worsened experience for responsible and caring visitors.

Related: You don’t want to be that tourist, watch out for these common tourist traps in Venice

Why are we speaking of a decrease in quality of life for the inhabitants as well as a decrease in quality of the stay for visitors?

Until the early 2000s, most visitors would come and stay in Venetian hotels for a few nights, taking a few days for exploring the city as a whole, visiting Venice beyond the landmarks, discovering the local life and culture.

In recent years, along with a yearly staggering increase in the number of the visitors, the way of visiting the city has changed: many tourists now come to Venice as a day/hour trip, as part of a cruise, for example, dramatically modifying social, logistic, economic and touristic aspects of the city.

Related: Good or bad? The truth about cruise ships in Venice

A vivid effect of this shift towards day-trips is that the only walkways used by dozens/hundred of thousands are the main streets connecting Piazzale Roma and the Train Station (the arrivals area) with the Rialto Bridge and Saint Mark’s square.

For 11 months a year, Venice assists to an almost daily gigantic human wave arriving in the city and trying to quickly move to and back from the two most known Venetian landmarks, resulting in a total jam.

To make things worse, Venice cannot provide picnic or resting areas because of its small size and its morphology,  resulting in visitors sitting down for resting and eating on bridges, narrow alleys, house doors and shop windows blocking even further the already jammed city.

Even though they are not perceived as such, alleys and bridges in Venice are the equivalent to streets and crossroads in other cities. Blocking them is a guarantee for Venetians to get angry at you.

Related: You asked, We answered: 19 things you might not know about Venice, Italy

Another effect of this approach to visiting the city is the impossibility for day-trippers themselves to take the time to appreciate the city and to understand what is genuine and worth their money, and what is absolutely not.

Foreign investors and investment funds have decided to take advantage of this situation by purchasing shops on the busiest paths to display their cheap/very cheap merchandise, luring in the passing tourists and selling mass-produced plastic goods which, at best, are of no value. At worst, they have been found to be toxic.

One more problem is that Italy has a high unemployment rate but no minimum wage, and these businesses, in particular, exploit the situation even further: employees struggle to live even in Mestre (which has much lower rents), while the company they work for is destroying local and family businesses and artisans’ shops.

Unlock a discount at the best local businesses in Venice

The investment race for selling 99cents souvenirs has led to a spike in the price of shops and rents that forced many genuine local activities, which were not aiming at masses, to try and move to less visited and therefore less expensive areas.

Because of the day-trip approach and the ever-decreasing local population, however, those less-visited areas struggle to have enough customers, leading an ever-increasing number of local activities to close and never to open again.

Related: Interactive Local Map Of Venice, Italy

This lack of opportunities and the negative outlook for young Venetians is leading more and more people to leave the city, well knowing that they will never be able to come back unless the current situation changes.

Are the negative effects of mass tourism in Venice really that bad?

The situation we just described could seem to be a bit too gloomy to you, maybe a result of a pessimistic approach.

The considerations we made, however, are perfectly in line with UNESCO’s last report about the current situation of “Venice and its Lagoon”, which lead the institution to consider putting Venice on the UNESCO World Heritage in Danger list in 2017.

Related: Venice to be or not to be a UNESCO World heritage site, that is the question

Is there any chance for Venice?

We are convinced there is still hope for Venice, of course!

Our strong determination and optimism make us believe it is possible to change this very negative trend and to improve the life of the Venetians, the health of the city, and the quality of the stay of the visitors… but we don’t trust the authorities for making this change happen.

We believe that Venice can prosper again, but only thanks to the people like you and us.

We believe that YOU can make a difference! Travel Responsively, please.

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Make sure to check out the resources below to make the best out of your stay in Venice, while making a positive impact on the local community.

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Venice against overtourism: new measures from summer 2022

Access to the city through turnstiles is back. These will be tested as early as this September and will be in operation from next summer: tourists will have to book and pay a fee to enter the city.

Venice and the overtourism issue

Overtourism has been defined by the World Tourism Organization as "the impact of tourism on a destination, or parts thereof, that excessively influences perceived quality of life of citizens and/or quality of visitor experiences in a negative way". Venice has always been decreed as the world capital of mass tourism, with a ratio of 370 visitors per year for every resident in the historic centre: an unsustainable figure. As early as 2019, the administration had set out to put in place restrictive measures to improve the city's situation, trying to aim for more sustainable tourism. Because of Covid, the measures were postponed until now, as the city had remained semi-deserted during lockdown periods. 

Thanks to the stop of the large cruise ships, the city has averted, for the third time, its inclusion in UNESCO's black list of endangered world heritage sites , but to make tourism in Venice more sustainable, it is necessary, unfortunately, to implement further measures and restrictions. Venice is such a beautiful city but just as fragile, and with the advent of Covid the problem of crowds in the city's narrow streets and near the main sights is even more pronounced. When the new measures come into force next summer, it is hoped to put an end to this problem, thus distributing arrivals in the city fairly throughout the year. But let's look at these new rules in detail.

Venice and the new measures to regulate the arrivals

During this summer of opening, after periods of lockdown, Venice was flooded with tourists, with estimates of as many as 80,000 visits a day. The problem of overtourism, combined with the impossibility of allowing crowds to gather in the city's narrow calli due to Covid, has made the strategy of limiting access to the city popular again. 

 From summer 2022, the local government has decided to implement "active" management of tourist flows, based on an access fee and electronic turnstiles. A strategy that has only been tested in the last few pre-covid seasons and whose entry into force has already been postponed twice. According to local newspaper reports, the system will involve gates located at the city's access points, delimited by high-tech turnstiles, to which you only need to place near your mobile phone to enter. In fact, the turnstiles will be accompanied by an app that will allow you to book your visit, paying the access fee, which will vary from 3 to 10 euros depending on the period chosen.

Residents, commuters and a number of other categories, that will be defined shortly, will be exempt from payment. The inhabitants of the Veneto region will not have to pay for access to the city, but will still have to book their visit. The first test turnstiles could be positioned at Tronchetto to be tested by the city's employees. The hypothesis is that they will eventually be positioned at the railway station, at Piazzale Roma and at the tourist launch terminal.

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Venice begins charging entry fees to curb mass tourism — here’s why residents are protesting in the streets

They want it gone-dola.

Venice began charging day trippers a 5 euro ($5.36) entry fee this week, reportedly in order to protect the UNESCO World Heritage Site from the adverse effects of over-tourism — but weary locals say the measure is just a drop in the bucket, and could end up sinking the struggling city.

Angry activists took to the streets, passageways and canals of the proud former maritime republic on Thursday to protest the new scheme, saying that Venice mayor Luigi Brugnaro — who commended his own, Marco Polo-level “bravery” in making the unprecedented move — has now turned one of the world’s most romantic destinations into little more than a “theme park,” The Guardian reported.

“I can tell you that almost the entire city is against it,” claimed Matteo Secchi, who leads Venessia.com, a residents’ activist group. “You can’t impose an entrance fee to a city; all they’re doing is transforming it into a theme park. This is a bad image for Venice … I mean, are we joking?”

Venice is the first major city in the world to take the step, at a time when popular destinations around the world — from Barcelona to America’s top national parks — suffer from overexposure.

Brugnaro hoped, he said, that the fee would make the city “livable” again. Constituents instead took to the streets on Thursday to protest, saying that real action is required to correct the various issues plaguing the city of canals.

Venice has lost more than 120,000 residents since the 1950s. The local population is now typically dwarfed by the many looky-loos who crowd onto the celebrated string of urbanized islands on a daily basis.

The fee can be paid online — the traveler will then receive a QR code that can be scanned at a number of strategic entry points. Tickets can be purchased on arrival if preferred, but random checks will be carried out and fines levied — between 50 and 300 euros — for those attempting to evade the pedestrian congestion charge.

For now, the fee will only apply on a string of peak days through mid-July, while the city evaluates the program. Locals, commuters, students and children under the age of 14 are exempt, as are those who can show an overnight hotel reservation.

A spokesperson for the council told reporters that 5,550 people had booked for Thursday, the inaugural date, bringing in roughly $30,000. While the city has denied the accusation that the fee is merely a cash grab, it has promised to cut taxes if the program takes root.

Critics contend that the fee won’t even scratch the surface of the real problems facing Venice .

Federica Toninello, leader of a local housing association: “They think this measure will solve the problem, but they haven’t really understood the consequences of mass tourism on a city like Venice.

“For a start, 5 euros will do nothing to deter people. But day trippers aren’t the issue; things like the shortage of affordable housing are … What we need are policies to help residents, for example, making rules to limit things like Airbnb .”

Others were sounding a more positive note.

“It will serve to collect fundamental data and help regulate tourist flows, which during certain periods of the year risking damaging a fragile city like Venice,” said Tommaso Sichero, the president of the association for Venice shop owners, in an interview with the Avvenire newspaper.

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Welcome to Venice. That’ll Be 5 Euros, Please.

Venice’s first day of charging a fee to enter the historic center went mostly smoothly, but there were some protests and polemics.

By Elisabetta Povoledo

Reporting from Venice

Pulling into the Santa Lucia train station in Venice on Thursday morning, passengers were told via an overhead announcement that they might have to pay a 5-euro fee to enter the city’s historic center. Failure to pay could result in a fine from 50 to 300 euros, the announcement said.

Outside the station, police officers in riot gear lingered, while a flock of assistants in colorful safety vests stopped arriving travelers to ensure that they had a QR code indicating that they had registered to visit on a city website. Those who hadn’t were directed to a booth where they could. After registering, overnight visitors were sent on their way without having to pay, but people planning to stay just for the day were charged (though there were other exemptions ).

It was a new welcome to Venice, the first city in the world to charge day visitors a nominal entrance fee, a measure city officials hope will help counter overtourism.

“I only found out because my partner texted me this morning to say it was happening,” said Lorraine Colcher, a hospital administrator from Wirral, England, in line at the booth. “I thought he was joking.”

And she didn’t think that people should have to pay for the privilege of seeing a “beautiful city that everyone wants to visit,” she said.

Not far from the station, hundreds of protesters were making a lot of noise. For them, charging an entrance fee was a worrisome step in bringing Venice closer to what many fear the city will become if tides don’t turn: a theme park. Blowing whistles, they handed out fake tickets reading, “Welcome to Veniceland.” Some held signs saying, “Venice is not for sale” and “Stick It to the Ticket,” and chanted, “We want to take back our city.”

“A ticket doesn’t resolve overtourism,” said Renata Marzari, a retired teacher from Venice who was among the protesters.

Like other locals, she acknowledged that an influx of tourists — which last year reached nearly 20 million — could be a challenge. Often, she said, it involved physical collisions, including “pointing accidents, when you walk into a suddenly raised hand, or photo accidents, when they back into you as they’re looking into their phones.” But the ticket, which applies only to day visitors arriving between 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., was “ridiculous,” she said. She added, “They could make more money charging for every cigarette butt that gets tossed on the ground.”

Venice is only one of dozens of cities, including Amsterdam, Athens and Barcelona, grappling with a glut of tourists. Speaking in front of the train station Thursday morning, the city’s mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, said he had been contacted by other places interested in the initiative, but he wouldn’t say which ones, “for reasons of confidentiality.”

Floating on water crisscrossed with canals, Venice, which tradition says was founded in 421, though that date is debated, is exceptionally fragile. Last year experts at UNESCO, the United Nations’ culture agency, recommended it be put on the list of its endangered World Heritage Sites, listing mass tourism as a main concern. Venice stayed off the “in danger” list after the access fee was approved, but UNESCO officials said in a statement that “further progress still needs to be made.”

Critics of the fee say that it will do little to combat the city’s real problems, which have pushed many to leave. The resident population in the city center has eroded to fewer than 49,000 people, from nearly 175,000 in 1951, according to municipal statistics . They list a lack of affordable housing, because of short-term rentals; a decline in services like schools and transportation; and the encroachment of the tourist industry into practically all walks of life.

Federica Toninelli, a member of a local association that advocates affordable housing in Venice, saw the ticket as “propaganda” and said the city must put “the needs of residents at the center of policies.” City officials need to “take strong steps that would bring the city back to a level of more manageable tourism,” she said.

Otherwise, “this is how a city dies,” said Nicola Camatti, an economics professor and expert in tourism at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.

Franca Caltarossa, who once ran a municipal after-school program that she said lost much of its funding under the current mayor, said that “tourism has distorted the city.”

“Venice is a living city, not a theme park,” she said.

A 2020 study by tourism experts at Ca’ Foscari, Venice’s main university, suggested that the optimum number of visitors to Venice per day was around 52,000 people, about a quarter of them daily excursionists. But Venice is not capping the number of visitors.

“We are contrary to limiting the number of visitors; this is an open city,” said Michele Zuin, the city councilor in charge of the budget. Instead, the city hoped that day visitors — around 10 million last year — would plan to come on off-peak days when the city “is calmer,” Mr. Zuin said.

“We’re convinced that it is a solution to manage day visitors,” he said.

On Thursday, a national holiday in Italy, 113,000 people had registered to enter Venice. Of these, 15,700 paid the access fee and 40,000 were exempt overnight guests, while the remaining visitors — also exempt — included students, workers and relatives or friends of residents.

For 2024, the fee will be applied on 29 peak days as “an experiment,” Mr. Zuin said. Data collected during this phase will help city officials to better manage resources and better control the phenomenon, they say. Mr. Zuin said that next year, more days would be added to the fee calendar, and fees could be as high as 10 euros.

“Doubling the price is making the city a commodity, nothing more than a theme park, a museum,” said Giovanni Andrea Martini, a local opposition lawmaker. He questioned the usefulness of the fee given that City Hall’s future projects included plans to enlarge the airport and dig new canals in the lagoon so that boats, and even cruise ships, which were banned in 2019, could dock closer. “This means the city will be further suffocated,” he said Thursday, cutting the interview short because a brief scuffle had broken out between the protesters and the police.

At the train station, tourists lined up patiently at the access-fee booth to sort out their passes.

Charlotte Dean, a wine merchant, and Caroline Meatyard, a retired schoolteacher, both from England, cheerfully paid the fee. It’s “fair enough,” Ms. Dean said. “Venice is a lovely place. It should be treasured.”

Elisabetta Povoledo is a reporter based in Rome, covering Italy, the Vatican and the culture of the region. She has been a journalist for 35 years. More about Elisabetta Povoledo

Venice launches pilot day-tripper entry fee to tackle mass tourism

Under the gaze of the world’s media, the fragile lagoon city of Venice launches a pilot program Thursday to charge day-trippers a 5-euro (around $5.35) entry fee that authorities hope will discourage visitors from arriving on peak days and make the city more livable for its dwindling residents.

Issued on: 25/04/2024 - 08:32 Modified: 25/04/2024 - 08:47

Signs advising arriving visitors of the new requirement for a test phase of 29 days through July have been erected outside the main train station and other points of arrival.

Some 200 stewards have been trained to politely walk anyone unaware of the fee through the process of downloading a QR code. A kiosk has been set up for those not equipped with a smartphone. Once past designated entry ports, officials will carry out random checks for QR codes that show the day-tripper tax has been paid or that the bearer is exempt.

Transgressors face fines 50 euros to 300 euros. The requirement applies only for people arriving between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Outside of those hours, access is free. 

“We need to find a new balance between the tourists and residents,’’ said the city’s top tourism official, Simone Venturini. “We need to safeguard the spaces of the residents, of course, and we need to discourage the arrival of day-trippers on some particular days.”

Venice has long suffered under the pressure of over-tourism, but officials say that pre-pandemic estimates ranging from 25 million to 30 million visitors a year — including day-trippers — are not reliable and that the pilot project also aims to come up with more exact figures to help better manage the phenomenon. 

By contrast, registered visitors spending the night last year numbered 4.6 million, according to city figures, down 16% from pre-pandemic highs.

Venturini said the city is strained when the number of day-trippers reaches 30,000 to 40,000. Its narrow alleyways are clogged with people and water taxis packed, making it difficult for residents to go about their business. 

Not all residents, however, are persuaded of the efficacy of the new system in dissuading mass tourism, and say more attention needs to be paid to boosting the resident population and services they need. 

Venice last year passed a telling milestone when the number of tourist beds exceeded for the first time the number of official residents, which is now below 50,000 in the historic center with its picturesque canals.

“Putting a ticket to enter a city will not decrease not even by one single unit the number of visitors that are coming,’’ said Tommaso Cacciari, an activist who organized a protest Thursday against the measure.

“You pay a ticket to take the metro, to go to a museum, an amusement park; you don’t pay a ticket to enter a city. This is the last symbolic step of a project of an idea of this municipal administration to kick residents out of Venice,” he said.

Venturini said about 6,000 people had already paid to download the QR code, and officials expect paid day-tripper arrivals Thursday to reach some 10,000. 

More than 70,000 others have downloaded a QR code denoting an exemption, including to work in Venice or as a resident of the Veneto region. People staying in hotels in Venice, including in mainland districts like Marghera or Mestre, should also get a QR code attesting to their stay, which includes a hotel tax.

The tourist official says interest in Venice's pilot program has been keen from other places suffering from mass tourism, including other Italian art cities and cities abroad such as Barcelona and Amsterdam.

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Venice launches world first tourist entrance fee in bid to fight overcrowding

VENICE, Italy — Ancient and beautiful, this city is sometimes referred to as an open air museum — and now visitors to Venice will have to pay an entry fee after the tourist hub on Thursday became the first in the world to introduce a charging system for day-trippers.

In a bid to thin out the crowds that throng to see the canals, bridges and striking architecture during vacation season, day-trippers will have to pay 5 euros ($5.35) to enter the lagoon city on 29 peak days, mostly on weekends, as part of a trial phase until July 14. 

Tourists who have booked at least one night at a hotel in the city will be exempt from the charge, as will residents, workers and students in the city. Visitors under age 14 will also be exempt. But like the day-trippers, they will also have to ensure they have registered online and received QR codes.  

Those without smartphones will have to go to the city’s Santa Lucia train station to buy tickets. 

Among the thousands of people lining up at the station for a ticket Thursday was Donna Porter-Mutchler, a tourist from Tennessee, who told NBC News she thought the charge was “a wonderful idea.”  

“Venice deserves to be taken care of,” she said. “I think it’s more than worth it. I come here often, and I’ll pay every time.” 

While there will be no limits on the number of people who can register, officials hope the fee will put people off on days it applies. 

“We are not looking to collect money, tax people or introduce a police state,” Simone Venturini, Venice’s tourism councilor, told NBC News. “We are being democratic about it, but the important message is: ‘Please, if you are a day-tripper, choose another day.’”

While there are no turnstiles at the city’s entrance points to make sure people have passes, inspectors will make random checks and issue fines of 50 to 300 euros to anyone who has failed to register.

Prominent signs across the city and a TV and newspaper advertising campaign have been launched in Italy and some other countries to let people know about it. And with the help of artificial intelligence , Mayor Luigi Brugnaro has also recorded a video message in several languages to inform tourists about the charge.  

Officials in the city estimate an average of 50,000 people a day visit Venice, an influx that almost matches the resident population, some of whom are unhappy about the new charge.  

“Venice has turned into Disneyland, where tourists are catered more than residents, and charging $5 is not going to stop anyone,” Federica Toninello of the Social Assembly for Housing and the Solidarity Network for Housing in Venice said Thursday. “It’s just propaganda.”

Others, like tourist guide Luisella Romeo, said they were concerned about the use of personal data collected by the new system. “That’s an invasion of privacy. Those details will remain in the system for five years and could be given to third parties, public and private,” she said. 

But officials in the city, which narrowly escaped being placed on UNESCO’s “World Heritage in Danger” list last year, in part because the United Nations body decided that it was not addressing concerns that its delicate ecosystem risked being overwhelmed by mass tourism, have insisted that something needed to be done. 

Three years ago, large cruise ships were banned from sailing into the Venetian lagoon , and the city has also announced limits on the sizes of tourist groups.

While the charge in Venice is still in its experimental stage, other popular Italian tourism destinations, like Lake Como, which has struggled with overcrowding for years, are watching closely.

Only time will tell whether it ends up dead in the water.  

Claudio Lavanga is Rome-based foreign correspondent for NBC News.

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‘Are we joking?’: Venice residents protest as city starts charging visitors to enter

Day trippers will have to pay €5 to visit Italian city under scheme designed to protect it from excess tourism

Authorities in Venice have been accused of transforming the famous lagoon city into a “theme park” as a long-mooted entrance fee for day trippers comes into force.

Venice is the first major city in the world to enact such a scheme. The €5 (£4.30) charge, which comes into force today, is aimed at protecting the Unesco world heritage site from the effects of excessive tourism by deterring day trippers and, according to the mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, making the city “livable” again.

But several residents’ committees and associations have planned protests for Thursday, arguing that the fee will do nothing to resolve the issue.

“I can tell you that almost the entire city is against it,” claimed Matteo Secchi, who leads Venessia.com, a residents’ activist group. “You can’t impose an entrance fee to a city; all they’re doing is transforming it into a theme park. This is a bad image for Venice … I mean, are we joking?”

Once the heart of a powerful maritime republic, Venice’s main island has lost more than 120,000 residents since the early 1950s, driven away by a number of issues but predominantly a focus on mass tourism that has caused the population to be dwarfed by the thousands of visitors who crowd its squares, bridges and narrow walkways at the busiest times of the year.

The entrance fee, which is required only for access to Venice’s historic centre, is bookable online and will apply on 29 peak days, mostly weekends, from Thursday until 14 July as part of its trial phase.

Residents, commuters, students and children under the age of 14 are exempt, as are tourists who stay overnight.

Day trippers, however, will be required to buy their ticket online and will then be provided with a QR code. Those without one will be able to buy a ticket on arrival, with the help of local stewards, who will also carry out random checks at five main arrival points including Santa Lucia train station. Those without a ticket risk fines of between €50 and €300.

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Venice council said 5,500 people had booked a ticket for 25 April, a national holiday in Italy , bringing €27,500 to the city’s coffers on its first day. Although Brugnaro has denied it is a money-making initiative, he has promised to cut local taxes for residents if the scheme is successful.

Federica Toninello, who leads ASC, an association for housing, said: “They think this measure will solve the problem, but they haven’t really understood the consequences of mass tourism on a city like Venice.

“For a start, €5 will do nothing to deter people. But day trippers aren’t the issue; things like the shortage of affordable housing are … What we need are policies to help residents, for example, making rules to limit things like Airbnb.”

The local branch of Arci, a cultural and social rights association, said it would distribute “symbolic passports” to tourists on Thursday as a way of highlighting the “dubious constitutional legitimacy” of the measure in terms of restricting free movement. The fee, it added, would be “ineffective in containing mass tourism” while generating “unequal treatment between different categories of visitors”.

Others, however, have embraced the scheme. “It will serve to collect fundamental data and help regulate tourist flows, which during certain periods of the year risking damaging a fragile city like Venice,” Tommaso Sichero, the president of the association for Venice shop owners, told Avvenire newspaper.

Despite the criticism, the Venice tourism councillor Simone Venturini said the administration was feeling “very relaxed” about “the “adventure”. “For the first time since Venice affixed itself to mass tourism, we are trying to do something,” he said. “This is the most relevant point.”

While some have raised questions over privacy due to people having to feed their data into the booking system, Venturini said the tool would be useful in “providing more precise figures on visitor numbers”.

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Venice residents protest as city begins tourist entry charge

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Venice now charging tourists $8 to enter city

Aussies planning on visiting a major European city will have to pay a fee or cop a hefty fine of up to $450 in a move that’s sparked outrage.

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Aussies planning on visiting Venice as part of their Europe trip will have to pay $8 before entering the popular city.

The Italian hotspot is the first city in the world to charge tourists an entrance fee in a bid to tackle mass tourism.

The cover charge came into effect on Thursday with visitors required to buy a five-euro ($8.20) ticket, enforced by spot checks at key points of entry into the UNESCO World Heritage site.

If tourists don’t pre-register to obtain a QR code, they will cop a hefty fine of up to $450. There are some exceptions, though, such as if you’re staying overnight in a hotel as those people already pay a tourist tax. However they too will have to register their presence to request an exemption to the fee.

Essentially, anyone entering the city on dates the fee is charged must carry either a ticket or an exemption, unless you’re a resident or born in Venice, but they too will need to show their identity documents.

For now it is a trial with a ticket required during the day between 8am and 4pm. Tickets can either be purchased online or at the new ticket office at the train station.

Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said 15,700 people bought tickets on Thursday and while he hailed it a smooth launch, it has already sparked major backlash with locals who participated in a protest saying the new scheme treats the historic Italian city like a museum.

Signs were held near the Santa Lucia train station on Thursday morning that read ‘Stick it to the ticket!’ and ‘Venice is not for sale!’.

“This is not a museum, it’s not a protected ecological area, you shouldn’t have to pay – it’s a city,” Marina Dodino, from the local residents’ association ARCI, told AFP.

Protesters say that at its largest the group was 1,000 strong, while the authorities said that only 300 attended.

Ruggero Tallon, one of the main protest organisers and the spokesperson for anti-cruise ship campaign group No Grandi Navi, told CNN that the group had planned to erect a banner spelling out “Welcome to Veniceland” and hand out fake “tickets” to passers-by, but were stopped by police. Instead they marched to Campo Santa Margherita, one of the city’s main squares.

“We rose up against the mayor’s idea of a closed city, a museum city,” Mr Tallon told the publication.

“A ticket does nothing. It doesn’t stop the monoculture of tourism. It doesn’t ease the pressure on Venice. It’s a medieval tax and it’s against freedom of movement.”

According to the publication, Mr Tallon also expressed concern that the project is being managed by a private company, which will receive people’s data, and suggested that other moves by the authorities – including angling for the return of cruise ships to the lagoon, and not yet restricting Airbnbs – are adding to the problem.

Venice has long had its problems with the mass arrival of cruise ships and in 2021, banned cruises from Venice lagoon over concerns about the environmental impact of the huge liners on the city.

Meanwhile, the mayor believes the “Venice Access Fee” is “not an expense” but a way to “make people understand that we need to change”.

“[And] therefore dilute visits to the city,” Mr Brugnaro said in a statement.

The city has faced ongoing struggle with mass tourism in turn having affected residents living with the congestion, environmental damage and affects on their lifestyle.

Venice’s population is around 50,000 and has been consistently falling, from a peak of 175,000. If the population falls below 40,000, there is concern that Venice will cease to be a viable living city, according to The Conversation .

The ticket idea had long been debated but repeatedly postponed over concerns it would dent tourist revenue and compromise freedom of movement.

“The aim is to find a new balance between tourism and the city of its residents,” Simone Venturini, the local councillor responsible for tourism, told AFP.

Ashish Thakkar, an American tourist visiting Venice with his wife, questioned how much of an effect the day pass would have.

“If I’m coming all the way from out of the country, five euros just to get access to the city — I wouldn’t mind paying it,” he said.

Some residents complain the measures fail to address another major issue – the expansion of short-term apartment rentals through websites such as Airbnb, which are squeezing out long-term tenants.

“You have to start with the houses if you really want to solve the problem of tourism in Venice,” said Federica Toninello, a local campaigner.

Sylvain Pelerin, a French tourist who has been visiting for more than 50 years, believes it a good idea and will help slow down the numbers of tourists in Venice.

Others have also taken to social media to weigh in on the move.

“That’s not going to stop anyone from wanting to go there on their Italian vacation. Just a money grab, who’s gunna (sic) say we’ll I came across world to see Italy, but I’ll pass on Venice cause of 5 bucks,” one person wrote on TikTok.

Another said it was “fair” and it was a “great idea” while one person said because of the fee, they won’t be visiting.

Venice, spread over more than 100 small islands and islets in northeastern Italy, was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage site in 1987.

But at peak times, 100,000 visitors stay overnight in the historic centre, double the resident population of just 50,000.

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Last year, UNESCO threatened to put Venice on its list of heritage in danger, citing mass tourism as well as rising water levels in its lagoon , which are attributed to climate change.

However, it escaped the ignominy only after local authorities agreed the new ticketing system.

– with AFP

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