To combat mass tourism, day tickets have been introduced in Venice from Thursday. The new system will charge tourists who want to enter the historic Italian city for a day, a world first designed to ease the pressure of mass tourism.
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Visitors entering the UNESCO World Heritage city for the day will need to buy a €5 ticket and inspectors will carry out spot checks at key entry points.
Considered one of the most beautiful cities in the world, Venice is one of the most popular tourist destinations, but the large number of visitors puts a heavy burden on the city and its residents.
During the trial period, one-day tickets will only be required on the 29 busiest days in 2024, mainly on weekends from May to July. The aim is to persuade day-trippers to visit Venice during quieter periods.
“The aim is to find a new balance between tourism and the city and its people,” a local official told AFP.
Popular tourist destinations around the world are struggling with massive influxes of tourists that boost local economies but strain local communities and risk damaging fragile ecosystems and historic sites.
Venice, located on more than 100 small islands and islets in northeastern Italy, was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1987.
During the busiest periods, 100,000 tourists stay overnight in the historic center of Venice, which is twice the number of 50,000 local residents. Tens of thousands more come to the city for a day, often from cruise ships.
Last year, UNESCO threatened to put Venice on the list of endangered heritage, citing mass tourism as well as rising water levels in the lagoon caused by climate change. Venice avoided this step only after local authorities agreed to the new ticketing system.
The idea was debated at length, but was repeatedly shelved due to concerns that it would seriously reduce tourism revenue and threaten freedom of movement.
Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro acknowledged that the tickets are an experiment, and officials aren’t entirely sure how the system will work.
Brugnaro told reporters earlier this month that the new system would be controlled, but not too tightly, and that queues would not form. Visitors are encouraged to buy tickets in advance online, but they will also be available for purchase upon arrival in Venice.
A new ticket office has been set up in the square in front of the Santa Luccia train station, which is the main entry point into the city. Controllers will carry out random checks. Violators are subject to fines from 50 to 300 euros.
Tourists who stay in Venice for more than one day and already pay the overnight stay tax, as well as those who arrive between 4 p.m. and 8:30 a.m., minors under the age of 14 and the disabled are exempt from the new tickets.
For now, the number of day tickets is not limited.
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