Hefty fines incoming for tourists who fail to pay entrance fee to Venice’s historic city center

Day-trippers to the fabled canal city of Venice who failed to pay 5 euros ($5.43) to enter the lagoon city’s historic center during a time-limited pilot program launched in April faced fines starting at 10 times the entrance fee. Venice has launched the long-discussed day-tripper fee after the city escaped being placed on the U.N. agency’s list of endangered heritage sites, due largely to the impact of overtourism. Officials have avoided calling it a tax, opting for softer words like access fee, and have downplayed the possibility of waits to enter the city, emphasizing there will be no turnstiles or physical barriers. Venice has long suffered under the pressure of overtourism, but officials say pre-pandemic estimates ranging from 25 million to 30 million visitors a year—including day-trippers—are not reliable and that the pilot project also aims to come up with more exact figures to help better manage the phenomenon. Visitors arriving at the main train and bus stations are first met by stewards who remind tourists of the new requirement and help anyone who hasn’t yet downloaded the QR code. Payment points are set up for anyone without a smartphone. Officials have emphasized that the program aims to reduce crowds on peak days, encourage longer visits and improve the quality of life for residents. The fee is not required for anyone staying in Venice, including the mainland districts of Marghera and Mestre. Activists sounded a warning last summer when the number of tourist beds officially overtook the number of residents, which has dwindled to under 50,000 in a trend dating back decades. They said the imbalance drains the city of services, clogging its tight alleyways and water buses with suitcase-toting tourists and pushing residents to the mainland with its conveniences. Tommaso Cacciari, a local resident who organized a protest on the same day of the beginning of the access fee, maintains that the tax will not improve the depopulation trend and only a serious social housing policy can keep Venice a genuine city rather than an amusement park. This article was provided by The Associated Press.