After many years of preparation, Venice finally launched yesterday, successfully despite the protests of some residents, its controversial five-euro entrance toll for tourists who do not have a hotel reservation. This is an unprecedented measure – it is the first city in the world to impose a tax of this type – that has a clear objective: to stand up to mass tourism that for too many years has threatened the fragile balance of the city of canals and expelled without restraint to its residents.
The figures are very graphic because if there are only about 50,000 inhabitants left on the Venice Islands – not counting those who live on the mainland –, on days of high pressure there can be up to 40,000 tourists at the same time. Last year alone 20 million admired their channels. After having kicked out the large cruise ships from the historic center, and UNESCO threatening to include the municipality on the list of world heritage sites in danger, the City Council has decided to launch the entrance ticket.
“I have the honor of being mayor of the most beautiful city in the world, but in recent years it has had a problem with the quality of life of the people, with civility and with respect for the rules,” defended the mayor. Luigi Brugnaro, at a press conference with correspondents in Rome. As he said, he is as brave as the merchant Marco Polo, since “no politician takes such a measure, because it is easier to stay still and not try to find a solution.” “It is not a measure that I take lightly,” he reiterated, “but if we continue talking we will never do anything to preserve the delicacy and beauty of Venice.”
At the moment it is all an experiment that will be in force on 29 designated dates in 2024, until July 14. It all started yesterday, April 25, which in Italy was a holiday commemorating the liberation of Nazi-fascism, and will continue for the next 10 days. What they hope to obtain is more information about the flows to control services and at the same time discourage visitors from traveling to Venice on the most critical dates. As the Councilor for Tourism, Simone Venturini, explained to La Vanguardia, yesterday around 113,000 people had downloaded the QR, and of these, around 15,700 had paid the 5 euros. The rest were mostly workers, residents of the Veneto region or tourists with hotel reservations, who, although exempt from payment, must still obtain the code. “It has gone much better than expected, we feared some crowding, but the system has worked perfectly,” Venturini celebrated.
Municipal representatives insist that they do not intend to close the city as if it were a theme park, and in fact, they have not introduced barriers or turnstiles at the entrances as at the Santa Lucía train station or Marco Polo airport. Six years ago, a test was carried out with turnstiles to regulate access flows and it turned out to be a complete disaster: they barely lasted half an hour after a group of protesters tore them off in front of the cameras. However, yesterday there were again some moments of tension when the police tried to evict a few hundred Venetians who displayed a sign that read “Veniceland” and were protesting because they believe that the City Council is not solving anything by not putting a limit of tourists.
The entry ticket does not provide reductions to the amount of 5 euros, but it does provide for a long list of exemptions. Starting with those under 14 years of age, the Venetians or those who come every day to work or study at their universities. Nor will their relatives, residents of the Veneto region or those who go to participate in sports competitions or go to the hospital have to pay it.
The idea is that only those who go to Venice to spend the day need the ticket. For the moment, the challenge seems more communicative: it will take time for tourists to know that they must download this code or buy it at one of the machines installed at the entrances. “We have understood the problem, Italy is made of ancient cities, there is nothing wrong with paying if you can visit the city. The problem is the queue time; “If they had told us in Florence, we would have done it differently,” an American told the Ansa agency.
Those in charge of controlling the access fee are a team of 150 people, including volunteers and municipal workers, who will be able to ask tourists for the QR code. Those who are not in compliance risk a fine of between 50 and 300 euros, but yesterday they did not impose any. “It was not a day to issue fines. Our staff has dedicated themselves to informing tourists and helping those who had problems with the website,” explained Venturini. When the experimentation period ends, the intention is to study how it went and introduce the necessary improvements.
