Venice expands the day tripping tax in attempting to combat Overturism

Venice, Italy (AP) -Venesia asks day trenders to the famous Canal City a tax for the second year that begins on Friday, a measure aimed at combating the kind of extravagance that jeopardizes the city’s UNESCO World Cultural Heritage status. A UNESCO body has decided to put Venice on its list of cultural heritage sites that are considered at risk after the tax was announced. But opponents of the day-tripping perfect fee say that it did nothing to discourage tourists from visiting Venice, not even on high-tailed days. Here is a look at the battle of Venice with the numbers of abroad: the fee charged to visitors who do not spend the night in Venice to enter its historic center during the second year of the day. Visitors who download a QR code at least three days in advance pay 5 euros ($ 5.69) – the same amount charged by the pilot program last year. But those who make plans at the last minute pay double. The QR Code is required from 08:30 to 16:00 and is checked at entrance points to the city, including the Santa Lucia train station, the Piazzale Roma Bus Depot and the Tronchetto parking garage. The number of days this day that day will be charged to Venice a fee to enter the historic center. This mostly includes weekends and holidays from April 18 to July 27. This is higher than 29 last year. The new calendar covers key holidays all weeks and extends the weekend period to Fridays. This is the amount that Venice took for the tax during a pilot program of 2024. The city’s top budget officer, Michele Zuin, said last year that the running costs for the new system amounted to 2.7 million euros, exceeding the total fees collected. This year, Zuin projects a surplus of approximately 1 million euros to 1.5 million euros, which will be used to compensate the cost of waste collection and other services for residents. The number of day trippers that the tax paid in 2024. Officials said that 12,744 day trips paid to enter the city on Friday-7.173 at the higher rate of 10 euros. They were one of the 77,000 who has so far registered to enter the city this year. Another 117,000 registered for exemptions, which apply to all who were born in Venice, those who pay property taxes in the city, study or work in the historic center, or live in the broader Veneto region. The average number of daily visitors on the first 11 days of 2024 who charged Venice equipment. This is about 10,000 people more than the number of tourists recorded during the previous year on each of the three important holidays. City councilor Giovanni Andrea Martini, an opponent of the measure, said the figures show that the project visitors did not deter visitors. The number of official residents in the Historic Center of Venice, which consists of more than 100 islands connected by foot bridge and crosses through its famous channels. The population peaked at 174,000 in 1951, when Venice was home to thriving industries. The number has shrunk during the economic boom in Italy when residents moved to the continent for more modern housing – including indoor plumbing that is missing in Venice. It has shrunk dramatically in recent decades when the local industry lost traction, sought families on the continent of the continent and the prices of homes have risen. Activists also blame the ‘mono-culture’ of tourism, which they believe has emptied the city of basic services such as stores for everyday goods and medical care. The number of beds for tourists in the historic center of Venice, including 12,627 in the less regulated short-term rental market, according to April data from the Ocio Housing Activist Group. According to the OCIO monitoring, the number of tourist beds exceeded the number of permanent residents. Anyone living in a hotel within the city boundaries, including on the mainland of Mestre and Marghera, pays a residence tax and is therefore exempt from the day-tripping tax. According to city officials, the number of annual arrivals of both day trippers and overnight guests are confirmed by cellphone data that has been detected from a smart control room since 2020. First Published: 19 Apr 2025, 06:28 AM IST