Venice To Charge Tourists An Entry Fee

Why is Venice planning to charge tourists an entry fee?

Venice is a beautiful city in Italy, famous for its canals. But guess what? About 20 million people visit it every year! That's a lot of tourists for a city with only 50,000 people living there.

Now, Venice has come up with an idea. They want to ask visitors who only visit the city for a day to pay 5 Euros (440 Rupees) to come in. No other city in the world does this!

Who will be affected by this fee?

One-day visitors to Venice will attract this entry fee. This is being done because most of the tourists in Venice come for just one day, and they don't help the city's economy much. However, they do use a lot of the city's resources, which is causing some problems.

Starting next year, all tourists will need to inform the city’s authorities about their visit in advance through an online portal. One-day visitors will be able to pay the fee online and get a QR code as proof. If they fail to do this, they might get a big fine of up to 300 Euros (which is almost ₹26,000!).

How is over-tourism affecting Venice?

Finding an affordable place to live has become tough for locals because landlords prefer renting to tourists for short visits instead of letting people live there for a long time. This is making many residents leave Venice, causing the city's population to go down.

The increased inflow of tourists has caused a lot of crowing on the city's small streets and old bridges. It has also caused a rise in the number of boats. The more the boats, the more waves they create. Over time, these waves can harm the foundation of the centuries-old buildings in Venice.

Will this fee solve the problem of over-tourism?

Some Italian politicians are concerned that if the fee is too low, Venice might start to feel more like a theme park and less like a real city. Some locals believe that only a limited number of tourists should be allowed to visit. Others think that the fee is a good first step!

Venice plans to try this idea on 30 special days during the busy spring and summer of 2024. We'll have to wait and see if this plan helps the city!