Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Venice's pilot scheme began charging visitors an entry fee in 2024, which it is now extending. The city of Venice introduced the Venice Tourist Tax pilot project in 2024 to curb overtourism and to return a little balance to the ancient city, particularly for locals, to help the economy and environment. It is now being extended in scope for anyone visiting in 2025—here's what to know.
The Venice Tourist Tax To Defeat Overtourism While loathe to bite the hand that feeds it, the city of Venice has long felt that it is overrun with tourists and it's a battle that has seen tensions rise dramatically over the past decade. In summer 2021 as an example , 80,000 day trippers filed off an increasing number of cruise ships, many criticised because these passengers contribute very little to the economy because they don't sleep in its hotels or eat dinner in its restaurants. Plus, the city is feeling the environmental impacts of these giant cruise liners along the delicate, already-submerging ancient canal waterways.
The debate has been flaring since the 2019 crash by a giant liner into the large Giudecca canal, one of the main water thoroughfares which leads to St Mark’s Square. But there are also more tourists visiting overnight too. The Washington Post reports that a record-breaking 3.
5 million people stayed the night in a Venetian hotel in 2023, which locals feel is ruining the fabric of the city. Tourists leave 70,000 tons of w.