The city will charge admission to day visitors
Venice receives between 28 and 30 million tourists a year, according to estimates by local experts . If we did an average, they would be about 70,000 or 80,000 tourists daily in a city that has 53,000 inhabitants that are easily diluted among the floods of travelers that pass through its streets, canals and monuments, causing its essence, that which is sought when visiting a city, to be seriously threatened.
As if it were a museum that charges admission to walk among its works of art, the city is preparing to begin applying the 'Regulation for the institution and discipline of the contribution of access, with any transport, to the old town of Venice and to other smaller islands of the Lagoon'.
The city receives between 28 and 30 million tourists a year
With this, it is intended not only to regulate arrivals to achieve a sustainable balance between visitors and residents, but also to collect the 41 million euros that they say they invest in “the extra costs that these arrivals entail for Venice, such as those derived from cleaning operations and waste disposal, and from typical maintenance, such as that of banks, bridges, and their heritage”, they explain on LIVE cosa succede in città, the website on which the City Council of Venice informs about the current situation in the city.
Today, the Municipal Council has approved the regulation with 22 votes in favor of the 33 possible, weeks after the municipal board of Venice did the same. He has also confirmed with 21 votes in favor the creation of a “limited traffic zone for motor vehicles entering the historic center of Venice”.
The obligation to pay the access fee will be effective 60 days after the necessary procedures for its application are approved, which is expected to happen in mid-March. A) Yes, "Until mid-May, access to Venice and the smaller islands is not subject to the payment of this fee."
The essence is what a traveler looks for when visiting a place
To start implementing it, it is expected that the city then begins to charge a fixed rate of 3 euros. This contribution will be transitory until the arrival of the January 1, 2020, date on which they expect this regulation to enter into force and ‘the fixed price of the ticket’ amounts to 6 euros , with fluctuations depending on the influx of visitors.
Thus, in the so-called 'green bun' , days when a lower influx of tourists is expected, the tax will drop to the 3 euros ; in the 'red bun' , when a critical influx is forecast, will amount to 8 euros ; and in the 'black bun' , with a particularly critical level of arrivals, the price will reach 10 euros.
This access fee, which will be applied as an alternative to the hotel overnight rate, must be paid by any natural person who accesses the historic center of Venice or the other smaller islands of the lagoon and will be valid until midnight of the day it is accessed. And it is that with her, what is intended is to tax the access of those tourists who do not sleep in the city.
Of course, there will be assumptions that are excluded from the payment of this tax. Here the rule is 'they are not going to pay the just for sinners'. And in this case, the just ones are the residents who stoically endure the constant onslaught of tourists.
Is tourism the problem or its management unsustainable?
In this way, they are excluded from the payment those who reside in the municipality of Venice, the workers who have to access the historic center or any of the islands in the lagoon in the exercise of their work activity; the students whose schools, institutes and universities are located within the area in which the contribution is applied; and the members of a family unit who have paid the municipal tax of this city.
In addition to these exclusions, those who spend the night in one of the facilities offered by the hotel park in the metropolitan area (they already pay the overnight rate), a category that does not include tourist rental flats; who have the Citypass Venezia Unica card ; the children under 6 years old ; and the people with disabilities and their companion.
On the other hand, from January 1, 2020 who spends the night in hotels located in the Veneto Region will pay half the tax, based on agreements established between the City Council, these establishments and the interested municipalities. A reduction that cannot be applied, however, in the days of 'green bollino'.
The tax will be paid through the transport tickets used to reach the destination, whether public or private (as long as we are talking about transport that is dedicated to the transfer of people for commercial purposes).
The official rate will be effective from January 1, 2020
They will be considered as such shipping companies, rail transport, line public transport vehicles, both terrestrial and aquatic; non-line public transport (school buses, VTC, taxis...), both land and water; and the air transport of passengers landing at the Nicelli del Lido aerodrome.
Since the carrier will be the person in charge of collecting the access fee in the price of the ticket, The authorities will be able to verify that these procedures are being carried out by requesting, both travelers and carriers, the presentation of documents that prove the collection and payment.
will be established penalties that will range between 100 and 450 euros for those who do not pay the access fee, issue false statements to get excluded or exempt from payment or to benefit from reductions.
It will be January 1, 2020 when the measure officially enters into force