Got a good reason, for taking €2.50 out of your pocket…
Venice, Italy is one of the world’s most charmed destinations. Noisy cars are replaced by gondolas, candlelight replaces florescent light and just about every angle is postcard worthy. Plus, you’re in Italy, where good food and wine goes without saying. With only 1/5th of the 30 million annual visitors spending the night, the Italian Government is devising a scheme to help add revenue from “day trippers” coming in on cruise ships, trains and more. Those iconic Venetian buildings don’t maintain themselves…
Overnight guests staying in Venice contribute to local infrastructure via a nightly accommodation tax, but day visitors do not. These fees cover things such as police, city maintenance, cleaning and just about any other day to day necessities. The Italian Government and Venetian Mayor Luigi Brognaro have now voiced plans to institute a “day visitor” tax which will extract between €2.50 and €10 from all tourists hoping to visit central Venice. The romantic city in the sea receives an outsized amount of tourism from cruise ship and train traffic and these guests do not contribute directly to infrastructure costs. A method for taxing visitors has not yet been made clear, but the fee could begin very shortly in 2019. Mayor Brognaro told the Associated Press “the tax would allow Venetians to live with more decorum.”
In a world now focused on sustainability, spotlight is finally being turned toward quality tourism. Countless destinations have struggled to maintain the integrity of natural environments and city structures as Instagram trends bring visitors by the millions. But what counts as a quality visitor? For starters, it’s someone being taxed or charged to offset the impact of their travels on the local community. The Philippines was forced to close an island due to exhausted resources and there are countless examples in Italy where excessive demand has strained local economies and quality of life for those who will be around far longer than a few days. Even at the lower end of €2.50 per visitor, that’s up to 20 million new visitors contributing. It adds up…
What a nice experience at Venice !