Since 25 April, the city of Venice has been applying a tourist tax for day-trippers on selected days. The city has now shared that nearly 1 million euros were collected in the first 11 days the tax was applied.
In a statement summarising the success of the first 11 days of the tourist tax, specifically from 25 April to 5 May, the city of Venice has shared that a total of 195,000 tickets were sold online and offline, which slightly exceeded expectations and brought in €975,000 euros. That amount, however, is still lower than the cost of introducing the fee and setting up the ticket system.
The €5 fee, currently implemented on a trial basis, applies to all-day tourists arriving in Venice between 8:30 am and 4 pm on selected dates. City residents, overnight guests, students and children under the age of 14 are exempt from paying the fee, along with a few other categories. However, even those who qualify for an exemption still need to fill in a form on the city of Venice’s website.
For the trial, 29 days have been selected for applying the tax:
- 25-30 April
- 1-5 May
- 11-12 May
- 18-19 May
- 25-26 May
- 8-9 June
- 15-16 June
- 22-23 June
- 29-30 June
- 6-7 July
- 13-14 July
If the tourist fee is maintained on certain dates after the re-assessment on 14 July, the generated income will be used to maintain roads, canals and buildings. It is also possible that the tax will be increased to €10 euros a day on particularly busy periods. The fee is not meant to deter tourists altogether, but to shift their arrival into lower seasons and to try to convince people to stay for more than a day, which benefits the Venetian economy more than day-trippers.
