Venice to begin charging guests entry payment subsequent yr

AFP

Venice plans to experiment with an admission payment of 5 euros (AED 19.71) for day trippers subsequent yr to attempt to handle the circulation of vacationers drawn to its historic canals, the town council stated on Tuesday.

The payment can be utilized on a trial foundation on 30 days subsequent yr, focusing primarily on spring financial institution holidays and summer time weekends when tourism numbers are at their peak. All guests over the age of 14 must pay it.

The intention was to seek out “a new balance between the rights of those who live, study or work in Venice and those who visit the city,” Venice tourism councillor Simone Venturini stated.

It shouldn’t be a money-making transfer, he added, saying the payment would solely cowl the price of administering the scheme.

The precise dates of the plan and the way will probably be run can be agreed after last council approval, which is predicted subsequent week.

The plan, first mooted in 2019, was initially postponed due to COVID-19, which stored vacationers away, and later for technical and procedural causes.

Visitors have in the meantime poured again into Venice, with outsiders usually vastly outnumbering the roughly 50,000 residents of the town centre, overwhelming its slender alleys.

Overtourism has lengthy been an issue for the delicate lagoon metropolis.

In July, UNESCO consultants beneficial that Venice and its lagoon be added to its record of World Heritage in Danger, claiming that Italy was not doing sufficient to guard the town from the impression of local weather change and mass tourism.