Venice continues to attract thousands of tourists and the authorities’ attempts to regulate over-tourism are falling on deaf ears.
The entrance fee may have raised much more money than the city originally expected but this was not a priority as the aim was to reduce the number of day tourists.
In particular, during the trial phase, which ended on 5 May, over 195 thousand admission tickets – costing 5 euros – were sold, generating revenue of 975 thousand euros, much more than the city had expected.
In fact, the figures show that the tourist “landing” has increased.
The last Sunday of the trial period saw an influx of 70 thousand visitors, some 5,000 more than in the same period last year.
Grumbling from residents
The measure, initially active only on weekends between 8:30 and 16.00 until mid-July, was not embraced by local clubs, who described the tax as an artfully orchestrated marketing campaign with no real intention of reducing the number of visitors.
Residents even talk about the additional difficulties the measure causes them, such as having to show their ID cards and provide personal details of their visitors to be exempt from the tax.
At the same time, over-tourism in their area has pushed up the cost of living even for basic necessities due to the demand from tourists.
For example, the cost of groceries and other daily necessities has increased due to the demand from tourists, while the noise and garbage from tourist activities have made the city stressful for residents.
Tens of thousands of daily tourists in Venice
The numbers of daily tourist visits are vertiginous. Venice welcomes around 80 thousand tourists every day compared to 49 thousand inhabitants.However, experts suggest using advanced technologies, such as electronic booking systems and big data, to analyse tourist trends and promote more sustainable forms of tourism that highlight the city’s cultural heritage without causing over-tourism.
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