Venice is expanding its entry fee in 2025 to combat overtourism, doubling the number of days the fee will apply and increasing the fee for travellers who book on short notice.
Tourists must pay the fee to enter central Venice every Friday to Sunday and on public holidays, from April 18 to July 27.
The standard fee is €5 (A$8.21), but those who book less than four days in advance will be charged €10. Tourists staying overnight in the city centre will be exempt.
According to Simone Venturini, Venice’s deputy mayor for tourism, the fee mainly targets short-range and sea tourists. “A short-range tourist can maybe be pushed to choose another day instead of a crowded day, causing less stress to the city,” he said.
The entry fee was first trialed this year, and charged day tourists €5 to enter central Venice on 29 days over the spring and summer.
Over 485,000 people paid the entry fee in 2024. While tourists who did not pay the fee this year were not fined, Venetian officials said fines would begin in 2025.
Bali also introduced an entry fee for tourists this year. Bali’s fee stands at Rp150,000 (A$14.48), though the Bali Tourism Office is studying a potential increase.
Venice’s entry fee can be paid online, and tickets are issued as a QR code.
“Covid was a big moment to reflect about the needs of reshaping all the tourism in the city and the recovery after Covid was for us the opportunity to work on quality instead of quantity,” Venturini said.
Other measures to discourage overtourism in Venice have included capping tour groups to 25 people, which began last August. Cruise ships were banned from central Venice in 2021, and the city is now building a new cruise ship terminal away from the area.
Around 20 million tourists visited Venice last year.
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee arrived in Venice on Monday to evaluate the conservation of Venice and its lagoon. UNESCO considered adding Venice to its list of endangered sites in both 2023 and 2021, due to the impact of overtourism and climate change.