Venice expands its day-tripper tax program to combat overtourism

VENICE – Venice is charging day-trippers to the famed canal metropolis an arrivals taxation for the 2nd twelvemonth starting Friday, a measurement to combat the overtourism that officials accidental is putting the city's UNESCO World Cultural Heritage presumption astatine risk.

A UNESCO assemblage decided against putting Venice connected its list of taste practice sites deemed successful information aft the taxation was announced. But opponents of the day-tripper interest accidental it has done thing to discourage visits.

Here’s a look astatine Venice’s battle with overtourism by the numbers:

5-10 euros (about $6-$11)

The taxation charged to visitors who are not overnighting successful Venice to participate its historical halfway during the 2nd twelvemonth of the day-tripper tax. Visitors who download a QR codification astatine slightest 3 days successful beforehand volition wage 5 euros — the aforesaid magnitude charged past twelvemonth passim the aviator program. But those who marque last-minute plans volition wage double. The QR codification is required from 8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. and is checked astatine introduction points to the city, including the Santa Lucia bid station, the Piazzale Roma autobus depot and adjacent St. Mark’s Square.

54

The fig of days this twelvemonth that time visitors to Venice volition beryllium charged a interest to participate the historical center. They see mostly weekends and holidays from April 18 to July 27. That is up from 29 past year. The caller calendar covers full weeks implicit cardinal holidays and extends the play play to see Fridays.

2.4 cardinal

The magnitude successful euros that the metropolis of Venice took successful during a 2024 aviator programme for the tax. The city's apical fund official, Michele Zuin, said past twelvemonth the moving costs for the caller strategy ran to 2.7 cardinal euros, overshooting the full fees collected. This year, Zuin projects a surplus of astir 1 cardinal euros to 1.5 cardinal euros, which volition beryllium utilized to offset the outgo of trash postulation and different services for residents.

450,000

The fig of day-trippers who paid the taxation successful 2024. Officials accidental 8,000 day-trippers paid successful beforehand to participate the metropolis connected Friday, among the 77,000 who person already registered truthful acold to participate the metropolis this year. Another 117,000 person registered for exemptions, which use to anyone calved successful Venice, those paying spot taxes successful the city, studying oregon moving successful the historical center, oregon surviving successful the wider Veneto region, among others.

75,000

The mean fig of regular visitors connected the archetypal 11 days of 2024 that Venice charged day-trippers. That's astir 10,000 radical much than the fig of tourists recorded connected each of the 3 important holidays during the erstwhile year. City assembly subordinate Giovanni Andrea Martini, an hostile of the measure, said the figures amusement the task has not deterred visitors.

48,283

The fig of authoritative residents successful Venice’s historical halfway composed of implicit 100 islands connected by footbridges and traversed by its famed canals. The colonisation peaked astatine 174,000 successful 1951, erstwhile Venice was location to thriving industries. The fig shrank during Italy's postwar economical roar arsenic residents moved to the mainland for much modern lodging — including indoor plumbing which was lacking successful Venice. It has been shrinking dramatically implicit caller decades arsenic section manufacture mislaid traction, families sought mainland conveniences and lodging prices rose. Activists besides blasted the “mono-culture” of tourism, which they accidental has emptied the metropolis of basal services similar shops for mundane goods and aesculapian care.

51,129

The fig of beds for tourists successful Venice’s historical center, including 12,627 successful the little regulated short-term rental market, according to April information from the Ocio lodging activistic group. The fig of tourer beds surpassed the fig of imperishable residents successful 2023, according to Ocio's monitor. Anyone staying successful a edifice wrong the metropolis limits, including connected the mainland districts of Mestre and Marghera, pays a lodging taxation and is truthful exempt from the day-tripper tax.

25 to 30 million

The fig of yearly arrivals of some day-trippers and overnight guests astir confirmed by cellphone information tracked from a Smart Control Room since 2020, according to metropolis officials.

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