UK tourists have been warned they could face a £100 "flat fee" to enter Italy. Venice is being destroyed by tourism – and a £100 entry fee might be the only solution in the European Union holiday destination, it has been warned. Earlier this summer, Venice trialled a €5 (£4.
30) fee for day-trippers, which looks likely to return – at double the price – next year. Writing in the Telegraph , the newspaper's Nick Trend argues that a £100 charge to visit Venice for a day-trip, or a £50 flat fee to visit the beautiful yet overcrowded island of Santorini. He explained: "We also have to be honest that this is an extremely difficult problem to solve, and in my mind there are only two blunt instruments that can be used.
The first is to weigh in with much heftier visitor charges. Some places already do this. Bhutan charges a daily “sustainable development fee” of US$200 (£156) for an adult in high season – which adds a hefty £2,000 to a two-week holiday.
READ MORE Martin Lewis warns NS&I customers face shock bill through letterbox "That, combined with the need to fly via India, keeps visitor numbers to the mountain kingdom (which has a population of around 790,000) down to about 350,000 a year, as well as bringing in substantial revenue." He asked: "Could you charge day-trippers something much more significant – say, £100 – for access to Venice, or £50 to visit Santorini from a cruise ship? It’s not unthinkable." Venice applies the tourist tax on tourist ove.