Measure to combat mass tourism in Venice comes into effect today, but residents are asking questions: “Are we laughing about it?”

Anyone who wants to visit Venice as a day tripper must be able to present an entrance ticket from Thursday. The measure was already approved before the pandemic, but is only now entering into force. The entrance ticket is introduced to discourage the arrival of day trippers.

Residents, commuters, students and children under the age of 14 do not have to pay. Neither do tourists who spend the night in the city. Everyone else will have to pay at least five euros if they want to enter the historic center on so-called ‘black days’. These are times when the city is traditionally flooded with day trippers. In an initial trial period, from Thursday April 25 to July 14, 29 such days were identified. On those days you must reserve and pay for your visit to the city. If you don’t do this, you risk fines of 50 to 300 euros. (Read more below the photo)

For April 25, a national holiday and the first day of the new measure, 5,500 people have purchased a ticket, the city said. That should yield about 27,500 euros in the city’s piggy bank in one day. But Mayor Luigi Brugnaro denies that the entrance tickets are being introduced as an initiative to raise money. However, it is to protect the UNESCO World Heritage site from the effects of mass tourism and it is an attempt to make the city “livable” again, he says. “First and foremost, I want tourists to understand that the problem of overcrowding here in Venice should be treated with more respect than anywhere else. It is clear that not all tourists are the same, there are also polite tourists. But we are in very rich, iconic places that cannot be treated as we often see.”

Because the city is suffering. Since the 1950s, Venice has lost more than 120,000 residents, displaced by tourists wandering along its narrow canals and congregating in its famous squares.

Bad image

But the measure, which is being introduced to protect the city, is not understood by everyone. Many action groups have planned protests during the first days of the new system. They believe that the entrance tickets will not significantly change anything in their city. “I can tell you that almost the entire city is against it,” claims Matteo Secchi, who runs Venessia.com, an activist group for residents. “You cannot impose an entrance fee on a city. All they do is turn the city into an amusement park. This is a bad image for Venice… I mean, are we laughing about it?” (Read more below the photo)

Federica Toninello, who heads a housing association, is also not in favor of it. “They think this measure will solve the problem, but they haven’t really understood the consequences of mass tourism for a city like Venice,” she says. “First of all, 5 euros will do nothing to deter people. And day trippers are not the problem. Issues such as a shortage of affordable housing are. What we need is policies to help residents, for example by making rules to restrict things like Airbnb.”

A local cultural and social rights organization will hand out “symbolic passports” to tourists on Thursday to highlight the “dubious constitutional legitimacy” of the measure in terms of restricting free movement.

Two years

But there are also proponents. “It will help to collect fundamental data and regulate tourist flows, which at certain times of the year threaten to damage a vulnerable city like Venice,” Tommaso Sichero, the president of the Association of Shop Owners in Venice, told the newspaper Avevenire.

Mayor Brugnaro emphasizes that this is currently still a pilot project. According to him, it will take at least two years to get everything ready. But he is convinced that Venice can play a pioneering role. “In fact, several cities with a huge artistic heritage have already asked me for information. I told them all: be patient, it will take time, but stay in touch,” he told the newspaper Corriere Del Veneto.