Pompeii, an ancient Roman archaeological gem on Italy’s southwestern coast, is set to impose a daily visitor cap and issue personalised, timed tickets, in a bid to protect the historic site.
Starting mid-November, a maximum of 20,000 tickets per day will be issued for the ruins of Pompeii, once a bustling city that was buried and uncannily preserved under ash and rock after the massive AD79 explosion of nearby volcano Mount Vesuvius. Giving visitors a sense of stepping back into the past, the largely intact fabric of the city provides insights into the urban lives of its former, unfortunate 20,000 inhabitants.
Now the number of daily tourists will be limited to the same size as that ancient Roman population, with personalised timeslots to minimise crowding during peak visiting hours.
Record numbers of visitors
Tickets for Pompeii begin at 18 euros ($19.32) but Italy’s museums waive their entrance fees on the first Sunday of every month. This led to a record 36,000 entrances to the site on a recent free admission day. A park spokesperson said the park had also received more visitors than 20,000 on three or four other days when the standard entry charges apply.
But the decision to introduce the new limit was not taken based on that record alone. British tourist Sue Wellings visited Pompeii with her husband, in April 2024 and they arrived early in the day. At that time in the spring season, she told Travel Tomorrow “it really wasn’t that busy and we were able to see everything without battling crowds.”
However, over four million visitors went to Pompeii in 2023, according to culture ministry figures, surpassing pre-Covid data, up 33.6% year-on-year, and averaging 11,200 people a day – who all circulate among the UNESCO-recognised structures and artefacts. October 2024’s daily average was 15,500 entrances a day.
“Human pressure”
Park director Gabriel Zuchtriegel said the cap was needed to alleviate that “human pressure on the site, which could pose risks both for visitors and the heritage that is so unique and fragile.”
As well as the visitor cap and timed entry slots, a number of other moves are underway as part of a strategy to improve visitor flow and spread footfall, Zuchtriegel said, including the “Greater Pompeii” project intended to incite more tourists to discover a series of other linked ancient sites via a free shuttle bus.
“We are aiming for slow, sustainable, pleasant and non-mass tourism,” Zuchtriegel added, “and above all widespread throughout the territory around the UNESCO site, which is full of cultural jewels to discover.”
