Visiting Venice? Here’s why you’ll soon need to pay an $8 day trip fee

Key PointsThe scheme is set to start in the spring of 2024.Visitors without a ticket could be fined between $84 and $502.The idea is for tourists to choose to visit on less popular days.

Tourists looking to explore Venice will have to pay a US$5.40 ($8.40) admissions fee on certain days in future if they do not stay overnight, the city’s council has decided.

The scheme is set to start in the spring of 2024 and will initially apply on the busiest 30 days for visitors, with the idea that tourists choose to visit on less popular days. The exact dates have not yet been fixed.

The lagoon city on Italy’s north-eastern coast – one of the biggest tourist destinations worldwide – currently has less than 50,000 permanent residents, but during the high season, the city sometimes hosts more than twice as many tourists.

The huge numbers of visitors, especially those arriving on cruise ships and only staying for a few hours to explore the city, have been causing major problems for years.

The aim is to find “a new balance between the rights of those who live, study or work in Venice and those who visit the city,” Venice tourism councillor Simone Venturini has previously said.

However, plans to introduce an entrance fee are also controversial among residents and a decision has been postponed several times.

According to the current plan, visitors without a ticket could be fined between 50 euros and 300 euros ($83.64 to $501.88).

In July, UNESCO experts recommended that Venice and its lagoon be added to its list of World Heritage in Danger, claiming that Italy was not doing enough to protect the city from the impact of climate change and mass tourism.

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