Venice moves to charge day-trippers an entry fee
Struggling with overtourism, the fragile city announced plans to make visitors book and pay to enter on busy days.
Venice, the fragile and incomparable city of canals that has struggled for years under the weight of overtourism, announced plans to begin charging day-trippers an entry fee, a novel and much-debated attempt to manage the crowds that threaten to overwhelm it.
Under the plan, visitors arriving for the day on the busiest dates would be required to book in advance and pay a fee to enter the historic centre, with the goal of discouraging the largest surges and nudging visitors toward less crowded times. Overnight guests, who already pay a tourist tax, would be treated differently.
Venice's predicament is acute. The population of the historic city has dwindled to a fraction of what it once was, as residents are priced out and homes become holiday rentals, while on peak days the narrow streets and bridges strain under crowds that far outnumber locals.
The entry fee, long discussed and repeatedly delayed, represented an acknowledgement that something had to be done, though critics questioned whether a modest charge would meaningfully reduce numbers, and others worried it risked turning the living city into a ticketed attraction.
The experiment would be watched closely by other historic cities grappling with similar pressures. Whatever its effectiveness, Venice's move marked a turning point in the global conversation about overtourism, and a recognition that the world's most beloved places may need to limit the very popularity that imperils them.