The new tax will be enforced every Friday through Sunday and on holidays from April 18, 2024 until July 27, 2025, totaling 54 days – nearly double the duration from this year. Tourists without reservations made up to four days in advance will incur a fee of 10 euros ($11), up from the standard 5 euros.
This tax will be applicable during peak hours, from 8.30 am to 4 pm. Residents, Venetian-born visitors, students, workers, and tourists with lodging reservations will be exempt from pay the tripper tax.
Following the conclusion of the initial trial phase last July, officials reported that the tripper tax had generated 2.4 million euros, translating to about 1,000 entries on each testing day.
In response to critics who labeled the initiative a failure, Brugnaro stated, “Venice is the first city in the world that tries to manage the problem of overtourism. We obtained important results.”
However, some citizen groups and opposition council members argue that the fee has not effectively controlled tourist numbers. “Data from the control room indicates that, on average, during the fee’s implementation, we saw about 7,000 more tourist entries than in previous years,” remarked opposition councilor Giovanni Andrea Martini. “This suggests that the access fee is not an effective system for managing visitor flows,” AP reported.
Venice has struggled with significant tourist crowds for years, with estimates suggesting annual arrivals of 25 to 30 million day-trippers and overnight guests since 2020, compared to a local population of around 50,000.
Originally delayed by the pandemic, the day-tripper tax was praised by UNESCO member states when they opted against recommending that Venice be placed on a list of endangered world heritage sites. The city also avoided such classification two years prior by banning cruise ships from the Giudecca Canal and St Mark’s Basin.
