Local authorities in Venice will impose an entrance fee on the tourists who set foot in the canal city. According to Italy’s 2019 budget, that was just passed with a majority yesterday, Venice will be able to charge tourists up to €10 per head.
Visitors to the city will be charged €2.5 in low season and between €5 and €10 in the peak season. Venice municipal authorities who have had troubles with over-tourism for some time, plan to add the new arrival tax on incoming bus, train, boat and airplane tickets.
Accommodation tax (up to €5) that has been charged via hotels in the last seven years will be abolished once newly introduced city entrance fee takes effect.
In 2017 over ten million tourists spent at least one night in a hotel. If day trippers are included that figure goes up to 27 million visitors, according to Euronews.
Especially the cruise passengers who sleep on their boats and escape hotel taxes, will now be indirectly charged by the city. The Venice city council introduced turnstiles in the old city in May to downsize the flow of problematic cruise passengers into the most popular neighborhoods of the city particularly when it is impossible to move or when the number of people poses a security risk.
The tourists who stay at a hotel or B&B were previously given turnstile cards by the hosts, which, after the introduction of the new entrance fee, will also be redundant. Over 50,000 citizens of Venice have already the proof of residence.
Current accommodation tax totaled some €30 million euros last year. Newly introduced tax is expected to increase these revenues to over €50 million a year.