Venice offers its tickets for sale to tourists, which is the first of its kind in the world
Gabriel Boez/AFP
Saint Mark's Square in Venice. The city will impose a tax of 5 euros to combat mass tourism as of January 16, 2024.
Italy – From now on, we will have to pay. On Tuesday, January 16, the municipality of Venice began selling entry tickets for five euros, a tax applied in the spring and summer seasons to tourists coming for just one day to the city of dogs, a victim of mass tourism.
For 29 days during the period from April 25 to July 14, the peak tourist season, day tourists will need to purchase this ticket to enter the Old City between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. local time. The ticket purchasing website was launched on Tuesday at https://cda.ve.it/en/in English and Italian.
However, several exemptions are provided, especially for those under 14 years of age, students or police personnel. There is no cap on the number of visitors planned under this program approved last year.
Decipher the city
The project, announced in September, aims mainly to discourage day visitors who crowd the city, famous worldwide for its works of art, bridges and canals and which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. .
“Venice is the first city in the world to implement this system, which can serve as an example for other fragile cities (…) that must be saved.”The city's mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, made the announcement in November, when the municipality announced the dates for implementing this tax.
“It is not a revolution, but rather the first step in a system that regulates the entry of daily visitors.”That was the goal,” explained Luigi Brugnaro “Quality of life in the city.”.
Venice ” in danger “
In mid-September, Venice narrowly escaped being placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in Danger.
But UNESCO experts recommended the classification at the end of July ” in danger “ The city of Venice, a jewel threatened by excessive tourism and global warming, is due to the measures taken “Insufficient” Taken in Italy to combat the deterioration of this site.
About 3.2 million tourists spent the night in the historic center of Venice in 2022, according to official data, a number that does not include thousands of visitors who go there during the day only.
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