The temporary tourist tax for day trippers in Venice has exceeded all economic expectations, authorities have announced.
Back in April, “The Floating City” introduced a €5 entrance fee for visitors who did not want to or could not stay overnight in local accommodations, in an attempt to curb mass tourism.
The load was applied on a trial basis from April 25 to July 15, from 8:30 am to 4:00 pm on 29 selected days. City workers, students, relatives of residents and people engaged in cultural or religious activities were exempted from the payment.
The government had already imposed a number of restrictions, such as limiting the size of tourist groups to 25, to reduce pressure on squares, bridges and narrow streets. Authorities also banned the use of loudspeakers in the city and nearby islands because they “cause confusion and disorder.”
But it seems that the most successful strategy so far to both stem the avalanche of tourists and raise good money has been the tourist tax for day trippers.
In the 29 days the tax was in effect, the government secured some of it According to Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro, the target was just $762,000.
During this time frame, 3,618,114 people booked tickets to enter the city, although many of them did not have to pay.
The mayor’s office will analyze the data collected to decide whether it is a good move to reintroduce the import tax during busy months.
“It’s a positive balance: the first 29 days of experimentation finally gave the city a tool that allowed us to know objectively how many people would arrive in Venice and give us a way to act accordingly,” tourism councilor Simone Venturini said in a statement.
The measure therefore worked from an economic point of view. But has it really worked to reduce the number of tourists?
Local residents said CNN they had noticed a visible reduction in crowds during the Redeemer Festival and other important days.
The difference between this city tax and other European taxes that only ‘pretend’ to stop mass tourism, but have no control over the number of arrivals, is that in this case visitors had to register their visit on the official Venice Access Fee website.
After registration was completed, they received a QR code to be presented at the entry points of the Old City. Failure to submit this code resulted in fines ranging from €50 to €300.
“The experiment worked and we can move on. A more in-depth analysis of the collected data will take place in the autumn,” Brugnaro told reporters.
Other European cities such as Barcelona are also increasing city taxes.
Immediately after approving the tourist tax increase for the second time in 2024, the government announced that the tax on stopover cruise passengers will be significantly increased in the coming weeks.
