Venice Plans To Charge Tourist Entry Fees

If you’re looking to visit Italy this summer and would like to spend the day in Venice, it will cost you about $11.

City officials have enacted a booking system for single-day visitors to the Italian city that includes an entry fee, in a trial run that the government hopes will not temper tourism, but manage it.

“We will be the first in the world to conduct this difficult experiment,” Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said, according to Forbes. Venice had more than 125,000 visitors during Easter weekend, which Brugnaro was grateful for – “a breath of fresh air for the tourism sector” – but added that the popular city needs “a more balanced management of tourism.”

Italy is expected to be one of the most visited sites in Europe this summer.

The fee is for single-day visitors only. The entry fee is waived for tourists who stay overnight in one of Venice’s hotels, which already charge a tourist tax.

Tourists who would like to visit for the day without overnight accommodations will need to book their day online and pay three Euros in the offseason and 10 during the summer, or about $3 and $11 in U.S. currency, respectively. The six-month trial could become permanent next year.

“The experimental phase begins in June when day tourists will be invited to book through a website that is being set up by the council,” Simone Venturini, Venice’s tourism councilor, said. “Those who book will receive incentives, such as discounts for entering museums. To determine the access fee, we will set a maximum threshold of 40,000 or 50,000 visitors a day.”