The implementation of the tourist tax to enter Venice has been postponed until 2023. Authorities had stated that the new tax and reservation system would come into effect this summer but Venice’s mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, announced that the measure will only be effective from January 2023. From that date on, the city will start charging between 3 and 10 euros to tourists who do not spend the night in the city. Overnight visitors who book a hotel stay will be exempt as they already pay a €5 per night tax. The new tax was originally announced in 2019 but with the outbreak of the pandemic its implementation was put on hold.
Nearly 300,000 tourists visited Venice over the Easter weekend. As reported by CNN, Brugnaro has defended the measure on Twitter profile. “The system is the right way forward, for a more balanced management of tourism. We will be the first in the world in this difficult experiment,” he tweeted.
Venice’s councilor for tourism, Simone Venturini, has said that the city will begin a trial period of the booking system this summer, as a preliminary test for its definitive implementation in 2023. In a few weeks, the city will launch a “very simple and fast” portal for online bookings, which will also feature an application for electronic devices.
“This summer it will be possible to book a day trip and in 2023 we will start with the entrance fee,” Venturini assured, adding that the use of early booking will be promoted by the Venetian consistory this summer, through incentives such as saving queues in spaces and museums.
Before the pandemic, as many as 110,000 tourists would visit the city on a single day. According to Euronews, about 50,000 people live in Venice. City authorities have also installed surveillance cameras to try to watch over how tourists behave in the city.
The new tax in brief
The entrance tax will become effective on January 16th, 2023. The amount of the tax to enter Venice will be 3, 6, 8 or 10 euros depending on the level of affluence of the day. This tax will be payable on a dedicated website or through an application for smartphones (which do not yet exist) and which will issue a QR code to be presented in case of control.
Tourists who can prove that they have booked a hotel room, a bed and breakfast or an apartment in Venice (municipal territory) for more than one day will be exempted from payment, as will the relatives of a year-round Venetian resident. But this exemption will be conditioned to the registration on the site or application that will be dedicated to the tax.
The primary purpose of the tax is to better manage the flow of tourists in order to preserve Venice and also to allow those who are there to enjoy it. The tax is also intended to relieve Venetians of the costs they now pay alone to maintain the city and its services:
- The garbage service (which costs 41 million euros per year).
- The maintenance and repair of the paving stones (Masegni) that cover the streets of Venice.
- Maintenance and repair of bridges.
- Maintenance of the quays and riverbanks.
- Maintenance of the city’s heritage, monuments of art and other elements that you enjoy during your stay.
On June 1st, Italy joined several European countries lifting all Covid-19 related entry requirements.
