From April 2024, the first city in the world will officially start selling tickets to tourists for the right to enter the city limits. This is, of course, Venice, which for several years has been announcing the introduction of a fee for visiting one-day tourists, starting even in the “pre-modern” times. And now the time of the start of testing the system has been announced: it will be April 2024. The decision, as written in the Italian mass media, is aimed at limiting the excessive density of tourists. Venice will be the first city in the world to issue “entrance tickets” to visitors.
The price is also named: during the test phase, tourists will be charged 5 euros, and then the prices will increase. The mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro, said that those who come to the city in the spring of 2024 will need a kind of “entrance ticket”. At the same time, residents of the region and students will be exempted from the “entrance ticket”. Previously, long-term tourists staying in Venice for a few days were also included as an exception. This time it is not clarified.
“We have to take measures to reduce the congestion that occurs in some periods in the historic center. This is an experiment; its economic return will be lower than its cost. This practice is aimed at keeping the occupancy level of the city under control,” said the mayor of Venice. He also added that the city will never be closed to visitors.”
The following details have also been added for tourists: the trial period, which will start in April 2024, will be valid only on weekends and will last a total of 29 days. Tourists will be charged an entrance fee from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. throughout the day.