Thursday was a special day in Venice. It was not just the feast of the city’s patron saint, Saint Mark. It was also the first day of their famous Access Fee.
This new measure, introduced by the mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, requires all hikers to pay 5 euros simply for the privilege of being there, making La Serenissima the first city in history to charge tourists an entrance fee .
If you stay overnight or longer, you don’t have to pay anything. But you do have to register online and request an exemption.
That’s why, on Thursday, riot police were present in Piazzale Roma, Venice’s main bus terminal. They were lined up against dozens of protesters with their signs and slogans, all convinced that the Access Fee is a terrible idea.
They argued that this will do no good for residents.
Venice (pictured) has introduced a new measure requiring all day-trippers to pay €5 simply for the privilege of being there.
As he watched, Brugnaro himself emerged from the crowd, dressed in a Barbour coat and accompanied by an entourage, walking with a purposeful stride.
He was there to make sure his yellow-jacketed flight attendants did their job of encouraging people to use their phones to pay the fare online. Failing that, there are ticket vending machines that you can use. Or you can pay the fee at a tabacchi.
Brugnaro’s cigar, burning in his hand even though it was only 10 in the morning, suggested bullish confidence. ‘What will the fee money be used for?’ I asked.
He took me by the elbow and led me to the edge of the nearby canal. “Three weeks ago, that was covered in moss and weeds,” she said. ‘We are constantly cleaning this to protect our beautiful city. But it costs money.
Brugnaro recently compared himself to Marco Polo, arguing that he goes where no man has been before. I asked him about this and he looked at me suspiciously.
To be fair to the mayor, it is thanks to him that this fee, which has been discussed for a long time, is finally becoming a reality. Last year, it sprang into action after UNESCO revealed it was considering including Venice on its list of heritage sites in danger, not only because of rising sea levels flooding the canals, but because of the damage caused. due to excess tourism.
Venice receives 25 million visitors every year. Of them, only about 30 percent stay one night or more. The other 70 percent are day-trippers, school travelers, interrail users and cruise ship passengers who arrive in the city and crowd St. Mark’s Square.
The 70 percent lot contributes only 30 percent of tourist revenue and congests the streets.
Above, workers prepare the tourist tax checkout counters outside Venice’s main train station.
Meanwhile, hotels and Airbnb rentals are charging residents prices. In the 1950s, there were 175,000 people living full time in Venice. Now only 50,000 remain.
The Access Fee initiative has had teething problems. The website you use to pay the fee is confusing.
Here’s some advice. To continue, you must download the 20-page privacy policy. Otherwise, you are stuck.
It is not clear that a 5 euro charge would deter even cash-strapped backpackers from entering Venice.
In St. Mark’s Square, I took a table outside a cafe and ordered a small bottle of beer. It cost me €16.
When you pay that much for a beer, another €5 is not a big deal.
Nearby I saw a group of men waving Venetian flags: scarlet with the golden lion of St. Mark.
They were separatist protesters from Nazione Veneta, who believe Venice should be an independent nation, like hundreds of years ago, when it was one of Europe’s great powers.
When I mentioned the Access Fee, one of them said: ‘Don’t pay it. It’s daylight robbery.
People with banners protest against the introduction of the tourist tax in Venice
The new Access Fee only applies on certain days during a trial period from now until the end of July. It’s every day from April 25 to May 5, then only on weekends. Mayor Brugnaro has stressed that all this is an experiment.
Meanwhile, authorities in other cities around the world are paying close attention.
If the access fee works in Venice, perhaps we can soon expect to be charged for views of Paris or Tokyo. But, by the same token, maybe we won’t.
As Florence Mayor Dario Nardella has pointed out, because Venice is built on water, it only has a small number of entry points. That makes it easy to catch visitors on arrival, when they show up at bus or train stations or major vaporetto stops.
Overtourism will not be easy to solve.
