Venice can start accepting only those tourists who book a visit in advance, and charge them an entrance fee. This statement was made in the pages of the local newspaper Corriere del Veneto by Mayor Luigi Brugnaro. The reason is simple – did not have time for tourism, in connection with the European holidays, to start again, as Venice again and clearly faced with “overtourism”.
The statistics of Easter week – we will remind, at Catholics Easter was last weekend – such. About 110,000 tourists arrived in Venice on Friday, another 160,000 on Saturday and 140,000 directly on Easter Sunday. On Monday, the tourist flow did not decrease. On the one hand, the government and the tourism industry are happy about this: “Thanks to this turnover, we pay the accumulated debts, suppliers and salaries,” said Claudio Scarpa, director of the Venice Hotel Association. On the other hand, the tourist excitement has led to huge queues everywhere – on sea vaporetto trams, in museums, in the church, especially in St. Mark’s Cathedral… Police in alarm – local chief Marco Agostini says it is extremely difficult to work.
As a result, in the summer Venice can start receiving only by appointment. “Booking a trip to the city is the right way for balanced tourism management. We will be the first in the world in this difficult experiment, “the mayor assured. According to him, it will take several months to “fine-tune the booking platform.”
The bottom line is that all tourists arriving in Venice will have to book tickets on a special website, which will be presented in the coming weeks. At the same time, experts note that residents and tourists who stay overnight in hotels and non-hotel facilities will register automatically, those who arrive one day will have to enter their data on the portal. At the same time, Venice will not be able to block access to “unregistered” tourists – but registration is planned to be attractive, thanks to incentives – such tourists will be offered discounts and priority visits to museums and public transport, as well as anti-incentives – unregistered waiting in line and higher rates. However, there are already penalties for fake bookings.
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