Venice rolls out day-tripper fee in bid to regulate crowds on peak weekends

23 November 2023, 14:14

Venice
Italy Venice Tourism. Picture: PA

Visitors will be charged five euro apiece.

Venice authorities have unveiled a pilot programme to charge day-trippers five euro (£4.35) apiece to enter the fragile lagoon city on peak weekends next year.

The move is part of an effort to reduce crowds, encourage longer visits and improve the quality of life for residents.

The rollout of the tourist “contribution” programme came after Venice, a Unesco World Heritage site, narrowly escaped being placed on the UN agency’s danger list earlier this year because of the threat that over-tourism was having on its delicate ecosystem.

Member states cited the proposed new entry fee in deciding to spare Venice from the list.

Venice
The programme will charge day-trippers five euro apiece to enter the fragile lagoon city on peak weekends next year (AP)

Venice mayor Luigi Brugnaro stressed that the fee is not a new tourist tax or an attempt to bring in extra revenue.

Rather, he said, it is a first-of-its-kind experiment in regulating tourist flows in one of the world’s most-visited places by incentivising visitors to avoid high-traffic periods and come on other days.

“Our attempt is to make a more liveable city,” he said at a news conference outlining the pilot programme.

In all, 29 days from April to mid-July – including most weekends – will be subject to the day-tripper fee during peak hours from 8.30am until 4pm, meaning visitors who come into Venice for dinner or a concert will not have to pay.

Venice
The aim is to help tourists choose less busy times to visit (John Walton/PA)

A host of exemptions apply, including for residents and Venetian-born visitors, students and workers, as well as tourists who have hotel or other lodging reservations.

Starting on January 16, a website, www.cda.ve.it, will go live at which visitors can “reserve” their day in Venice.

Day trippers pay five euro and get a QR code that will then be checked at spot controls at seven access points around the city, including at the main train station.

Visitors with hotel reservations enter their hotel information and also get a QR code to show, without having to pay since their hotel bill will already include a Venice lodging fee.

Venice
There has been an exodus of Venetians to the mainland in recent years (John Walton/PA)

After Covid-19 lockdowns devastated Venice’s tourism industry, the city of narrow alleyways, canals and islands has been trying to rethink its relationship with visitors in a more sustainable way while also seeking to incentivise its residents to stay put.

Venice has been forced to take action in response to the steady exodus of Venetians to the mainland and pressure from Unesco and environmentalists, who also lobbied successfully to have the government ban big cruise ships from sailing past St Mark’s Square and through the Giudecca canal.

Venice has been pointing to longer-term tourists as key to its survival since they tend to spend more.

Mr Brugnaro said in no way does the new day-tripper contribution discourage tourism overall, but just seeks to manage it better.

He acknowledged the visitor scheme will probably have glitches and will need to be amended. But he said that after years of study and talk, it was time to roll it out.

By Press Association

Latest World News

See more Latest World News

Video footage shows the convoy had emergency lights flashing when it was hit

Israel admits ‘mistakenly’ killing 15 aid workers after video leak contradicted official version of events

Jaguar Land Rover has paused shipments to the US in the wake of 'Liberation Day' tariffs

Jaguar Land Rover halts shipments to US in wake of tariffs as Trump insists he'll win 'economic revolution'

Flowers and toys left on a swing seat to commemorate victims killed in Russia's missile attack on Friday

Death toll from Russian strike on Zelenskyy's home town rises as 18 confirmed dead - including nine children

Donald Trump's 10% tariff on UK products has officially come into force

Trump tariffs come into force as global stock markets plunge deeper into the red

Tom Howard

British tourist killed after being struck by boulder on trek through Himalayas

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, a car burns following a Russian missile attack that killed more than a dozen people, including children, in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, Friday, April 4, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

Russia kills 16 people including three children in missile strike on Zelenskyy's home town, with dozens wounded

Travel influencer Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, 24, made an illegal visit to North Sentinel Island

Tourist who left Coke for world's most isolated tribe 'could have wiped them all out' - and police 'can't go collect can'

White House weighs in to support ‘censored’ anti-abortion activists in Britain

White House looking to support ‘censored’ anti-abortion activists in Britain

This image provided by NASA shows Nick Hague, right, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore. (NASA via AP)

Stranded NASA astronauts reveal they were almost trapped in space 'forever' after horror malfunction

Donald Trump demands France 'free Marine Le Pen'

Donald Trump demands France 'free Marine Le Pen' after far-right leader found guilty of embezzlement in 'witch hunt'

China will impose a 34% retaliatory tariff on imports from the US

China announces additional 34% tariffs on US imports in retaliation over Trump's 'Liberation Day' levies

Friends of Prince Andrew say he's "unsurprised" Giuffre made the post

Prince Andrew 'not surprised' his accuser shared shock post saying she had 'four days to live'

South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol

South Korea president Yoon Suk Yeol removed from office as impeachment upheld over martial law declaration

Virginia Giuffre

Woman driving Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Giuffre during crash that left her with 'four days to live' breaks silence

Exclusive
'Donald Trump has made Putin comfortable,' Mikhail Khodorkovsky has warned

'Trump has made Putin comfortable' despite massive Ukraine war losses, exiled former oligarch tells LBC

The bodies of Andrew Searle and his wife Dawn were discovered by a neighbour.

British couple found dead in south of France home being ‘treated as murder-suicide’