Unesco warned in July that the old city of Venice is in danger of suffering irreversible destruction due to the tourist masses. The entrance fee is an attempt to curb the number of tourists.
In Italy, the authorities of the city of Venice have decided to test the entrance fee charged to day-trippers to the historic center of the city. This is reported by the news agency AFP.
An entrance fee of five euros awaits day tourists. The fee is avoided if the traveler stays at a hotel in the city for at least one night. In addition, children aged 14 and younger are exempt from the fee.
The UN’s educational, scientific and cultural organization Unesco warned in July that the old city of Venice is in danger of suffering irreversible destruction due to climate change and tourist masses. An attempt is being made to reduce the number of tourists traveling to the historic center with an entrance fee, in order to protect the endangered world heritage site from further damage.
The experiment is scheduled to start next spring and will continue for a total of 30 days at different times, such as public holidays and weekends.
“This is the first step”
The city authorities have been debating for years about the appropriate way to limit the number of tourists, which runs into millions of visitors every year.
On the other hand, it has been feared that the entrance fee will limit tourists too effectively, and thus would also affect the city’s tourism income. In addition, the entrance fee has been feared to hinder freedom of movement.
The Venice city council voted in favor of the entrance fee experiment on Tuesday.
– This is the first step, said the mayor of Venice Luigi Brugnaro.
According to critics of the experiment, the five-euro entrance fee did not attract enough tourists. The opposition of the city council criticized the fact that no research or investigation was done on the size of the entrance fee.
– This does not prevent people from coming to Venice in the slightest, said a member of the council Alessandro Baglioni.
– Fifty euros could have already affected something, said a member of the council in turn Gianfranco Bettin.
Two years ago, the city of Venice prevented large cruise ships from entering the city. Since then, cruise ships carrying thousands of tourists have been diverted further away to the cargo port.
According to official figures, more than 3 million tourists stayed in the historic center of Venice last year. In addition to these, thousands of day tourists visit the city every day.
Source: AFP