Entertainment

Venice Eyes 30-Euro Tourist Fee and Longer Season

Is this a surveillance-backed cash grab that failed, or does the approach just need to be far steeper to work?

SEP 22·Updated SEP 23

Venice Eyes 30-Euro Tourist Fee and Longer Season

Story

Above: People on a footbridge in the San Polo district of Venice, Italy, on April 4. Image credit: Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images

The Facts

Venice is considering extending its tourist entry fee across a longer part of the year and raising the daily charge to as much as 30 euros ($34), budget and taxation councillor Michele Zuin said in remarks reported Monday.
Travel Tomorrow
Le Figaro
Independent
Zuin told the Sunday edition of regional daily Il Gazzettino that the current 5 to 10 euro charge "is affordable for virtually everyone," adding there was "even talk of" going up to 50 euros before authorities considered a 30 euro cap.
Independent
The Straits Times
Any new 2027 rate must be discussed and agreed with the Italian government and parliament. Zuin said the aim is not extra revenue but better management of visitor flows on the busiest days, such as the May 1 holiday.
UNN
KURIER
The day-tripper fee began in 2024 as a world first, with reduced rates for early bookers and exemptions including children under 14. In 2026, it applied on selected days from April 3 to July 26, between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.
EA Daily
Independent
Le Figaro
The 2026 edition raised more than 5.2 million euros from just under 680,000 tickets. The charge covered 29 days in 2024, 54 days in 2025 and 60 days this year, according to municipal figures.
informat.ro
The Straits Times
Travel Tomorrow
Officials are also weighing an extension of the fee into March and September, plus a higher city tax on overnight stays of up to eight or nine euros for top-category hotels. Mayor Simone Venturini has backed a surge-pricing model.
Dailyhive
Kronen Zeitung

Sources Split

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The Spin

Narrative A

Venice already proved the entry fee is ineffective: 75,000 visitors a day during the trial, about 10,000 more than the same period the year before. Doubling or tripling the charge just pushes people to book beds instead, adding more tourist rentals and squeezing residents further. Call it what it is — a surveillance-backed cash grab aimed at foreigners, not a serious plan to save the city.

Etias

Narrative B

A 5-euro ticket was never going to move the needle, and that's exactly the argument for going bigger. Bhutan's steep daily fee keeps a whole country's visitor numbers manageable, and lotteries and booking caps already protect the Louvre and fragile frescoes. Venice, with tourists outnumbering residents 100 to 1, needs a price high enough to actually thin the crowds and fund a longer season.

The Telegraph