Venice entry tax failed to deter tourists, critics say

A proposal to double the entrance fee of the famed Italian destination is being considered for next year.

Venice has wrapped up its pilot programme of charging a 5-euro ($5.46) entrance fee for day trippers arriving on particularly congested days, after opponents called the experiment a failure.

Authorities in the famed Italian destination, also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in April introduced an entrance levy, hoping it would deter some people from visiting. The system was designed to manage the flow of tourists when visitor numbers are at their peak.

But on Saturday, several dozen activists gathered outside the Santa Lucia train station overlooking a teeming canal to protest the entrance fee, saying that it did little to dissuade visitors from arriving on peak days, as envisioned.

“The ticket is a failure, as demonstrated by city data,” said Giovanni Andrea Martini, an opposition city council member.

Over the first 11 days of the trial period, an average of 75,000 visitors were recorded in the city. Martini said that was 10,000 more each day than on three indicative holidays in 2023, citing figures provided by the city based on cellphone data that tracks arrivals in the city.