Beautiful city in Europe wants to ban tourists as visitor tax to rise even more

An Italian tourism hotspot in a war against tourists wants to double the entrance fee in a bid to “discourage arrivals”.

Venice officials have threatened to double a daily tourist tax after concluding its summer trial.

The trial saw day-trippers paying an entrance fee during peak days of €5 (£4.20) and was introduced to manage tourist influx during high-traffic periods.

However, on the busiest days, the price will rise to €10 to prevent exceeding maximum visitor levels.

The levy did not apply to hotel guests, who already pay a lodging tax, and included exemptions for children under 14, regional residents, students, workers, and people visiting relatives.

The €10 ticket is the maximum allowed by law; setting a higher price would require legislative changes.

Tourism Councillor Simone Venturin  believes Venice is “still too cheap” and speaking at a meeting about the 2025 Jubilee, he said: “We are considering a higher access fee to curb excessive tourism. 

“The underlying logic is that Venice is not an unlimited resource; it must be regarded as a scarce commodity that not everyone can enjoy, thus increasing its value.

“Venice cannot accommodate everyone in the world, and we must choose what kind of people we want to bring to a city that offers a unique experience, but within a finite space.”

Budget Councillor Michele Zuin explained the goal of doubling the entry fee was “to discourage arrivals as the initial experimental phase did not show significant disincentive effects”.

Over 29 days during the summer, the city said the €5 tax was paid 485,062 times, generating around €2.4million (£2million) and in the first three months of 2024, arrivals increased by 12 percent compared to the same period in 2003

Opposition councilor Giovanni Andrea Martini, who previously branded the scheme a failure, even proposed a demonstration using water pistols against visitors.

However, Venetian institutions opposed this idea, starting with Mayor Brugnaro: “This crosses the line of decency; Martini should apologise.” Councillor Zuin also criticised Martini: “Martini advocates ‘peaceful rudeness’ without offering solutions.”

Earlier this month, dozens of activists gathered outside the Santa Lucia train station, protesting the fee. They argued it failed to deter visitors on peak days.