From June onwards, the reservation system for one-day tourists will be introduced on a pilot basis in Venice, to which visitors – after the pandemic – have returned for the first time at Easter.
In an interview with La Repubblica on Tuesday, Mayor Luigi Brugnaro announced that a reservation and entry fee system, planned for years, would be put in place from June to regulate the growing number of tourists. According to the mayor, Venice is the first city in the world to introduce this “difficult experiment.”
Entrance fees for tourists arriving for one day, i.e. not booking accommodation in Venice, will be between € 3 and € 10, depending on the number of visitors to the lagoon city each day. They will try to determine the amount of the fee so that the number of tourists does not exceed 40-50 thousand per day.
Before the pandemic, 30 million people visited Venice every year. As the coronavirus epidemic subsided, tourists gradually returned, but the first real flood was noticed at Easter: 140,000 arrived on Sunday and nearly 100,000 on Monday.
The mayor welcomed the return of visitors, but said they wanted to keep the flow of tourists under control.
Pre-registration is initially encouraged with various discounts, such as cheaper museum tickets. Italians in the province of Veneto are also expected to make a reservation, but do not have to pay and do not have to register in justified cases, such as funerals or visits to relatives.
Over time, gates may be set up at key entry points in the city to keep the system running smoothly.
MTI
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