An extension of Venice’s day-tripper tax (introduced at the start of 2024) has been confirmed as the Italian city continues its efforts to manage overtourism
Under the changes, the tax will be doubled to €10 (AU$16.35) for last-minute visitors and will be payable on an increased number of days. From next year, it will apply every weekend from Friday to Sunday as well as the 54-day holiday period between April 18 and July 27 of next year – almost double the number of days of this year’s pilot scheme.
The changes aim to help the lagoon city battle huge influxes of visitors during crowded holidays and weekends. Since 2020, the number of day-tripper and overnight arrivals has been estimated at between 25 to 30 million annually, according to cellphone data.
After the July completion of the first test phase of the tax, the city reported a total of €2.4 million euros had been paid, with around 1,000 entrances on each of the included days. The majority of visitors to the ticket website during the period were Italian, followed by US, German and French citizens.
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Responding to criticism that it had failed to deter enough arrivals with day-tripper number actually up on the same period in previous years, Mayor Luigi Brugnaro insisted the results were still significant.
“Venice is the first city in the world that tries to manage the problem of overtourism. We obtained important results,” the mayor said, as reported by AP.
The tax will be enforced during peak hours between 8.30am and 4pm. Exemptions are available for residents, Venetian-born visitors, students and workers, as well as tourists who have accommodation bookings.
In 2021, cruise ships were banned from the Venice lagoon to avoid the city being placed on UNESCO’s endangered list.
