Day trippers will have to pay €5 to visit Italian city under scheme designed to protect it from excess tourism

Day-trippers will have to pay €5 to visit Italian city under scheme designed to protect it from excess tourism

Authorities in Venice have been accused of transforming the famous lagoon city into a “theme park” as a long-mooted entrance fee for day trippers comes into force.

Venice is the first major city in the world to enact such a scheme. The €5 (£4.30) charge, which comes into force today, is aimed at protecting the Unesco world heritage site from the effects of excessive tourism by deterring day trippers and, according to the mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, making the city “livable” again.

But several residents’ committees and associations have planned protests for Thursday, arguing that the fee will do nothing to resolve the issue.

“I can tell you that almost the entire city is against it,” claimed Matteo Secchi, who leads Venessia.com, a residents’ activist group. “You can’t impose an entrance fee to a city; all they’re doing is transforming it into a theme park. This is a bad image for Venice … I mean, are we joking?”

  • DragonTypeWyvern@literature.cafeEnglish
    122·
    7 months ago

    This isn’t going to dissuade anyone though. No one is going to change their vacation plans for $5.

    This is just the city wanting money from tourists directly.

    • Fedizen@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      7 months ago

      which will further entrench the city gov to cater to tourists if they become dependent on such fees

      • VirtualOdourEnglish
        4·
        7 months ago

        Which they should tbh, it’s a crowded sinking town that’s only real industry is tourism. Help anyone that wants to move out and put in more facilities for tourism to help fund surrounding areas and build the local economy.