Venice to start charging entrance fees again

Venice (Italy) April 16 - Venice, Italy, will start charging visitors an entrance fee to the city again from Friday. Compared to last year, when the city started this due to the mass influx of tourists, the fee will double to ten euros (about 250 CZK). If a visitor books a ticket more than three days in advance, they will pay five euros, the DPA agency reported today.

The fee for entering the historic city on the lagoon, which is also famous for its international film festival, will be collected until the end of July. From Easter Friday, visitors to Venice will pay an entrance fee every day from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. during April, and from May only from Friday to Sunday. The entrance fee does not apply to tourists who have accommodation in the city, but they do pay a tourist tax to the city.

Of course, residents of the city do not pay the entrance fee, nor do natives of Venice; students, children under 14 years of age, and the disabled are also exempt from the fee.

Last year, Venice became the first city to charge an entrance fee for short-term visitors. Anyone who did not have a ticket risked a fine of up to 300 euros (about 7,500 CZK). However, this did not reduce the number of visitors, according to DPA, which reports that a cup of cappuccino in St. Mark's Square in Venice, for example, still costs more than this entrance fee. Last year, 485,000 paying visitors were registered, bringing in more than 2.4 million euros for the city.

The romantic atmosphere, the famous St. Mark's Square and the basilica of the same name, museums, gondola rides, the famous carnival and the international film festival attract about 20 million tourists to Venice every year. However, excessive tourism is threatening the city, which was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1987. Local authorities have already restricted the operation of large cruise ships, which have become a symbol of one-time mass tourism and which, according to some experts, threaten the fragile city in the middle of a sea lagoon with large waves.

Czech press agency | WT.24