Venice approves city access fee. The trial starts in 2024

After so many announcements, false starts and postponements, it seems to be the right time: from 2024 there will be a fee to enter Venice. Last week, the City Council in fact passed the final text of the resolution establishing the “Regulations for the establishment and regulation of the Access Fee, with or without carrier, to the Ancient City of the Municipality of Venice and the other Minor Islands of the Lagoon,” and on Tuesday the City Council approved it.

The ticket will come into effect in 2024, although the first application will be on an experimental basis, for 30 days that will be defined with a special calendar to be released in the coming weeks but which, according to what has been announced, will focus on spring bridges and summer weekends. The “access fee” (this is the official name for what is in fact a ticket to enter) will cost 5 euros (although the exact value will have to be determined by a later resolution) and must be paid by all persons over the age of 14 who will enter Venice, excluding, however, residents of the Municipality of Venice, workers, both employed and self-employed, including commuters, school and university students , and members of the households of those who pay IMU in Venice. Also exempt from the payment are all tourists staying overnight at accommodation facilities located within the municipality, residents of the Veneto Region, children up to 14 years old, people in need of medical treatment, participants in sports competitions, law enforcement officers on duty, and relatives up to the 3rd degree of residents.

A further resolution of the Council will define, in addition to the days covered by the contribution, specific details and declinations, such as the exemption for all the smaller islands of the Lagoon, the time bands of validity of the contribution and the value of the same ticket. In the resolution that establishes the value of the contribution, the Council will also define the modalities of compulsory reservation for some exemption categories, in smart and telematic mode. For example, all residents of Veneto will not pay any contribution, but they will be obliged to book themselves on the appropriate portal.

The aim of the measure, the City Council points out, is to disincentivize daily tourism in certain periods, in line with the delicacy and uniqueness of the City.

“After listening to citizens, through an online consultation, and incorporating some indications in the internal discussion phase of the City Council, we have drafted an integration to the original version of the Access Fee,” said Tourism Councillor Simone Venturini. “We did this in the conviction that the idea of booking the city should be as participatory as possible. We are thus setting ourselves as a forerunner worldwide, aware of the urgency of finding a new balance between the rights of those who live, study or work in Venice and those who visit the city. This is why, in certain periods and on certain days, innovative flow management is needed, capable of putting a brake on daily tourism. From today begins a journey that we undertake with humility, aware that there will be problems to solve and obstacles to overcome. No one has shown us the way before, we are mapping it out in the conviction that tourism management is a priority for the future of our city. A city that will always remain open to all. Indeed, its bookability is not a tool for making cash (on the contrary, it will only allow the costs of the system to be covered) but will guarantee residents a better quality of life and overnight tourists a visit that will provide more vivid emotions. After a long and difficult process, the time has come for concrete action, as we are used to doing.”

“With the utmost humility we will be ready to correct the measure, with a series of deliberations of the Council, aimed at defining the operational modalities of the Regulations,” says Budget Councillor Michele Zuin. “This is a significant turning point in the management of tourist flows in Venice, which is experimental, so we will initiate a continuous and direct comparison with all economic and social categories to monitor together the effects in the short and medium term, with a view to involving all stakeholders. The exemptions respond to common sense norms to ensure access to Venice for those who work, study, have their own affections, have health needs or must travel by necessity to the regional capital, which hosts so many administrative functions. The message we want to give is that Venice is accessible, open, but visitors, both domestic and international, must understand that planning is needed to better manage the balance between residency and tourism.”

Venice approves city access fee. The trial starts in 2024

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