By COLLEEN BARRY (Associated Press)
VENICE, Italy (AP) — Under the attention of the world’s media, the fragile lagoon city of Venice launched a pilot program on Thursday to ask day-trippers to pay a 5-euro ($5.35) entry fee. Authorities hope this will discourage visitors from coming on busy days and improve the city for its decreasing number of residents.
People arriving at Venice’s main train station were welcomed with big signs explaining the plan, including separate entrances for tourists, and residents, students and workers. 29 dates The plan is being tested until July.
“We need to find a new balance between the tourists and residents,’’ said Simone Venturini, the city’s top tourism official. “We need to protect the spaces of the residents and discourage the arrival of day-trippers on some days.”
However, not all residents are convinced that the new system will discourage mass tourism. They argue that only an increase in the population will restore balance to a city where narrow streets and water buses are often crowded with tourists. Hundreds of Venetians protested against the program, marching happily through the city’s main bus terminal with banners reading “No to Tickets, Yes to Services and Housing.” Protesters briefly clashed with police wearing riot gear, who initially stopped them from entering the city. However, they changed direction and entered through another bridge escorted by plainclothes police officers. The demonstration ended peacefully in a piazza.Some tourists were surprised to have to pay to enter a city in their own country and to be directed through separate entrances for tourists. They followed the requirements and downloaded the QR code as needed. However, some were caught off-guard when they arrived at the entrance signs.
At the entrance ways, workers in yellow vests conducted random checks at the train station. Those who broke the rule face fines of 50 to 300 euros ($53 to $320), although officials said they would use “common sense” during the launch.
This requirement only applies to people arriving between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Outside of those hours, access is free and unrestricted. QR code Venice has long struggled with overtourism, and officials hope that the pilot project can provide more accurate data to better manage the issue.
The city can track the number of hotel visitors, which last year totaled 4.6 million, down 16% from pre-pandemic highs. However, the number of day visitors, who make up the majority of the crowds in Venice, could only be estimated until recently.
During the pandemic, a Smart Control Room has been monitoring arrivals using cellphone data and has confirmed estimates of 25 million to 30 million arrivals per year, including day-trippers and overnight guests, according to Michele Zuin, the city’s top economic official.
However, Zuin mentioned that the data is not complete.
He stated that they will receive more accurate data from the day-trippers' contributions.
Venturini mentioned that the city faces strain when the number of day-trippers reaches 30,000 to 40,000. On busy days, local police implement one-way pedestrian traffic to manage the crowds.
Residents who oppose the day-tripper tax believe that the solution to Venice’s problems is to increase the resident population and their essential services, restrict short-term rentals to free up more housing, and attract families back from the mainland.
Last year, Venice reached a significant milestone when the number of tourist accommodations surpassed the number of official residents for the first time, which is now less than 50,000 in the historic center with its charming canals.
An activist named Tommaso Cacciari, who organized a protest against the measure, mentioned, “Requiring a ticket to enter a city will not reduce the number of visitors. You pay for a ticket to use the metro, visit a museum, or go to an amusement park. Entering a city should not require a ticket. This is the administration's symbolic attempt to push residents out of Venice.
He stated, “You pay a ticket to take the metro, to go to a museum, an amusement park. You don’t pay a ticket to enter a city. This is the last symbolic step of a project of an idea of this municipal administration to kick residents out of Venice.”
Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro declared the launch day, which coincided with an Italian holiday, a success, with 15,700 paying visitors, 50% more than expected.
Over 97,000 others obtained a QR code for exemption, including those working in Venice or residents of the Veneto region. Hotels in Venice, including in districts outside the historic center provided a QR code for visitors, accounting for 40,000 of those.
Venturini, the tourist official, mentioned that other places affected by mass tourism, such as other Italian art cities, and municipalities like Barcelona, Spain, and Amsterdam, have shown interest in Venice’s pilot program.
Marina Rodino, a long-time Venice resident, does not view the fee as a comprehensive solution. She noticed that neighboring apartments in her residential building, near the famous Rialto Bridge, which used to be occupied by families, are now being rented out as short-term apartments.
Despite the closure of the local butcher shop, she acknowledged that the new entrance fee requirement will still allow young people to enter the city in the evening for the traditional aperitivo, which can get rowdy.
She distributed mock European Union passports for “Venice, Open City,” emphasizing the irony of the new system and questioning its legal standing with references from the Italian Constitution that guarantees citizens the right to “move or reside freely in any part of the national territory.”
“This is not a natural oasis. This is not a museum. It is not Pompeii. It is a city, where we need to fight so the houses are inhabited by families, and stores reopen. That is what would counter this wild tourism,’’ Rodino said.
Venice, the delicate city built on a lagoon, has started a trial program to collect a 5-euro or $5.35 fee from day-trippers. Officials aim to discourage visitors from coming on busy days and improve the city for its declining number of inhabitants. Non-overnight visitors must have a QR code confirming payment of the tax. Travelers arriving at Venice’s main train station on Thursday were informed of the 29 dates in July when the trial will be in effect. They also found new entrances that separate tourists from locals, students, and workers. Staff members were available to assist those who were unfamiliar with the new rules in getting the QR code and paying the fee.
The corner butcher shop closed. Yet she noted that the new entrance fee requirement will still allow young people to flood the city in the evening for the traditional aperitivo, which can grow rowdy.
She was passing out mock European Union passports for “Venice, Open City,” underlining the irony of the new system, and challenging its legal standing with citations from the Italian Constitution guaranteeing its citizens the right to “move or reside freely in any part of the national territory.”
“This is not a natural oasis. This is not a museum. It is not Pompeii. It is a city, where we need to fight so the houses are inhabited by families, and stores reopen. That is what would counter this wild tourism,’’ Rodino said.
