Venice becomes the first city to charge tourists an entrance fee

This Thursday, April 25, Venice became the first city in the world where it is necessary to register and pay to visit.

The tourists, resigned, but without protest, accepted the payment of the 5 euro ticket to be able to enter, while the Residents demonstrated against a measure that they consider useless.

From the city council it was explained that During the morning 110,000 people had arrived in Veniceof which only 10% paid the entrance fee.

“Everything is going well, no one complained and almost everyone was informed,” explained the Councilor for Tourism, Michele Zuin.

Some residents’ associations also gathered in Plaza Roma to protest a measure they consider a “tax” that will not change the situation.

The core of the protest is that no limit has been placed on income of tourists. That’s why they displayed a sign that read ‘Veniceland“and there were moments of tension when the Police tried to evict them from the area

Upon arrival in Venice, at Piazza Roma, the main access to the city of canals, uninformed tourists queued at the ticket offices to register and pay if necessary.

It is worth remembering that the inhabitants of the Veneto region are exempt, those who stay in Venetian hotels or with relativesamong others.

Some of the foreign tourists, although accepting the payment, showed their discomfort at the lack of prior information and the need now to endure the long lines to buy the ticket.

“The goal here is to help Venice and I think Venetians have already suffered enough from tourists. All cities in the world should do this,” explained Mark, a US citizen who visited the city of Canals this Thursday, according to La Repubblica.

For now There are 29 days in which you can enter the city only with reservation and payment for those who are not staying in the lagoon.

There will be no turnstiles and 200 inspectors between controllers and municipal agents will be dedicated to randomly checking the possession of the QR code that gives the right to enter after paying the 5 euros online.

The measure will be in force from today, April 25, with a bridge holiday in which a significant presence of tourism is expected, until May 5, when it will begin to be charged during successive weekends until July 14, in addition on June 1 and 2. The fines range from 30 to 500 euros.

“I apologize for the inconvenience, but we have to do something. We cannot just talk, we have to try to do something and we are doing it now because we have the duty and the task to stop and safeguard the city for future generations“said the mayor of Vencia, Luigi Brugnaro, who came to the entrance of the city.

He admitted that With this measure “more money is being spent than is collected”but he defended that “this is not an expense, it is a way to make people understand that we have to change and therefore dilute visits to the city by avoiding the masses and people are understanding it.”

He explained that “the experimentation will be medium-long term” to “collect data and information to then calibrate the system.”