The marshy ground of the Venetian lagoon has given way because of the thousands of daily boats that cross it, whose propellers significantly damage the retaining walls of the canals.
Hence the constant threat of sinking. Hence, and the inevitable climate change , which makes the water rise a little more each year. Not even the MOSE experiment (a huge and very expensive mobile dike system designed to protect the city from the high tides that cause so much flooding) It has been as effective as expected.
So serious is the matter that UNESCO has even threatened Venice with including it on its list of endangered heritage , a measure from which it has been saved preventing the entry of cruise ships in front of San Marco square and the Giudecca Canal.
See photos: Things you can only do in Venice
However, the Italian Government ordered last July find and build new docking points for these ships in the lagoon , so day visitors will continue to come to the city. The ultimate plan, however, is to find ideas that allow build a port for these ships outside of this environment
These images will never be repeated
For this reason, and to regulate the unbridled tourism that threatens, once again, with wipe out the city -after the stoppage of the pandemic months, in which it was unusually calm , 400,000 travelers have come this Easter to an urban nucleus in which barely 50,000 live -, the City Council of Venice has once again launched the tourist tax for day visitors that he left parked by the health crisis.
WHAT IS THE VENICE TOURIST TAX?
The tourist tax is the colloquial name with which to refer to the 'Regulation for the institution and discipline of the contribution of access, with any transport, to the old town of Venice and other smaller islands of the Lagoon'. Namely, the fee that will have to be paid to access the old town of Venice and other smaller islands in the lagoon.
With this initiative, the City Council of the Italian city intends regulate arrivals through an online reservation system, admitting a maximum of 40,000 or 50,000 arrivals per day, according to the Consistory. And also, raise money to deal with the extra costs that tourists suppose for Venice (cleaning operations, waste disposal, maintenance of banks, bridges and heritage…).
Venice plans to let in a maximum of 50,000 tourists a day
WHO HAS TO PAY THE VENICE TOURIST TAX?
One-day tourists, that is, those who do not sleep in the city. Those who stay in any of the facilities offered by the hotel park of the metropolitan area (category that does not include tourist rental flats) are exempt, when paying the overnight rate. This, which has been included for years in the lodging account, is a maximum of five euros per night.
HOW MUCH WILL I HAVE TO PAY TO ENTER VENICE?
It seems that the new rate will move between the three euros for days when little tourist influx is expected and a maximum of ten for the high season.
Let's hope we have Venice for a long time
WHEN DOES THE TOURIST TAX FOR DAY TRAVELERS IN VENICE HAVE TO BE PAID?
“The experimental phase begins in June, when day tourists will be invited to book through a website that is being completed by the City Council,” Simone Venturini, Venice's councilor for tourism, told La Repubblica. “Those who book will receive incentives, such as discounts on admission to museums ”, she explained.
After this pilot phase, it is expected that from January 2023 the access system and the rate are fully established, and it is not discarded install large gates at entry points main to enforce it.
Luigi Brugnaro, mayor of Venice, has in fact said that the city is "the first in the world" to perform "this difficult experiment" which is configured, however, one of the few exits left for the aquatic city to stay afloat.