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Venice, Italy’s representative tourist city, which has suffered from ‘overtourism’, charges an entrance fee for tourists. Tourists must pay a daily visit fee of 5 euros (about 7,400 won).
Overtourism is a phenomenon in which excessive crowds of tourists make the lives of local residents miserable. Representative cities experiencing this include Venice, Italy, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and Dubrovnik, Croatia.
On the 24th, the British Guardian reported that Venice, Italy, will begin charging admission fees to same-day tourists entering the city from the 25th (local time). First of all, it will be imposed temporarily from this day until July 14th.
Tourists can receive a QR code by paying the entrance fee on the official Venice website. Inspectors are stationed at key points, including Santa Lucia Station, to randomly check whether admission fees have been paid. If you are caught sightseeing without paying the entrance fee, you will be subject to a fine of 50 to 300 euros.
Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said, “This is an experiment that has never been attempted anywhere in the world,” and added, “This is a measure to make Venice a more livable city.”
The unconventional measure of ‘city entrance fee’ was implemented because residents’ complaints about overtourism exploded.
Venice is a small city with a population of only 50,000 people. It is estimated that an average of 40,000 people visit Venice every day during the peak season. In 2022 alone, 30 million tourists flocked to the country.
Among these, only 10% of tourists stayed overnight, so the side effects such as noise, environmental pollution, traffic difficulties, invasion of privacy, and increased housing prices were greater than the economic benefits of lodging. In particular, as tourists began to flock again after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, residents have been protesting and demanding measures from the authorities.
Italy’s ANSA news agency said, “Venice residents have suffered greatly from the influx of tourists every summer,” and added, “City authorities have adopted new measures to curb mass tourism by requiring the purchase of ‘symbolic passports.'”
