In a global precedent, tourists who visit Venice for short daytime periods without staying overnight will have to pay a tax of five euros as of April 25, according to what the Italian city authorities announced, in an attempt to reduce waves of excessive tourism.
Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said, during a press conference in Rome, in the presence of media representatives from all over the world: “This is an experience that is happening for the first time in the world.”
He stressed that “it is not about making money (…) Our goal is to make Venice,” which is one of the most attractive cities for visitors in the world, “more suitable for living.”
During peak periods, one hundred thousand tourists spend the night in Venice, in addition to tens of thousands of visitors who spend short hours there without spending the night.
On the other hand, the population of the city center does not exceed 50 thousand people, a number that is steadily declining.
For the year 2024, this new tax affects only 29 days that witness a large influx of tourists, as “the calendar begins on April 25 (which is an official holiday in Italy), and then follows it almost every weekend from May to July,” according to Brugnaro, who promised “ With very smooth, “random” and “no queues” monitoring processes, to ensure compliance with paying the tax.
This tax, whose implementation has been postponed several times, only targets tourists who enter the Old City daily between 8:30 am and 16:00 local time.
They will have to download the QR code for five euros on the dedicated website (https://cda.ve.it/fr/), which is available in English, Spanish, French, German and Italian.
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