Venice Entrance Fee Leads to Mixed Results and Political Turmoil Amid Efforts to Curb Overtourism

While Luigi Brugnaro, the mayor of Venice, recently declared that the city’s new five-euro entrance fee was a “great success,” city officials said at a news conference Friday that more data analysis is needed to confirm the fee’s effectiveness, the New York Times reported.

The entrance fee, launched earlier this year, was meant to curb the constant flow of “day-tripping” tourists entering the city at peak times. According to city data, the fee was applied on 29 dates from April to mid-JUly, mostly on national holidays and weekends. It generated €2.43 million from 485,000 payments more than tripling the initial estimate of €700,000.

Despite this financial success, some have argued that the high revenue indicates the fee failed to control tourist numbers. City Council member Giovanni Andrea Martini claimed the available data showed an increase in visitors on peak days, challenging the program’s success, while other officials argued that there wasn’t enough data currently available to compare this year with past years. A more detailed report is expected in the fall.

Critics like Franco Migliorini, an architect specializing in overtourism, argued that a five-euro fee is insufficient to deter tourists, noting that many items in Venice cost more. “Just about everything in Venice costs more than €5, practically even a coffee,” Mr. Migliorini said. 

Venice, facing the dual challenges of mass tourism and climate change, remains a focus for UNESCO, which cited tourism as a principal concern.

On the 29 days the fee was collected, visitors had to register online to receive a QR code that was required for access to the city. Exemptions were made for overnight visitors, who already pay a tourist tax, and certain categories like students and workers. No fines were issued for non-compliance, leading some critics to suggest that enforcement was lax.

Tourism official Simone Venturini hailed the fee as a “cultural revolution,” providing precise visitor numbers and enabling pre-arrival engagement with tourists. Future adjustments to the fee and its implementation will depend on further data analysis, with potential increases in the number of days the fee is applied or in its amount.

Despite the mayor’s positive assessment, political turmoil surrounds the initiative. Mayor Brugnaro is under investigation, and a city councilor was arrested recently over a real estate deal. Opposition lawmakers have called for the administration’s resignation, which could jeopardize the entrance fee program’s future. 

The 60th Venice Biennale officially opened in April and is due to run through November 24. The exhibition, titled “Strangers Everywhere,” was curated by the Brazilian artistic director of the Museu de Arte de São Paulo, Adriano Pedrosa. The 2022 edition drew 880,000 visitors into the city despite Covid-related travel restrictions, a record for the international exhibition.