A European holiday hotspot is being urged to drastically increase its entry fee for day-tripping visitors amid a surge in tourism. The iconic city currently welcomes around 30 million people every year, and a local businessman is calling for the introduction of an increased tourist fee.
Visitors without hotel or Airbnb reservations in Venice currently have to pay €5 (£4.20) to visit. However, local businessman Setrak Tokatzian has proposed a new €100 (£86) entry fee. Data shows that seven out of 10 visitors only stay in Venice for a day and often don’t spend any money in the local shops.
Tokatzian, the president of the St Mark’s Square residents’ association, said the charge would help fight against overtourism, which is threatening the city with a “state of calamity”. The current Venice entry fee was introduced on April 25 last year, but following an “explosion of overtourism”, there are calls to make it 20 times more expensive.
Tokatzian, who owns a jewellery shop in the city, told local newspaper Corriere del Veneto: “This tourism is obscene, there’s a complete explosion of overtourism like never before, with a type of people wandering around without entering shops or even knowing where they are.”
He added: “They move from one place to another, often guided by tour operators, boarding gondolas, hopping into taxis, rushing here and there, but no one buys anything.”
Between April and July this year, a €5 (£4.20) to €10 (£8.35) levy was introduced in Venice. Tourists who made reservations less than four days before arrival were charged the higher rate while daytrippers visiting between 8.30am and 4pm had to pay the daily fee.
Critics have slammed the proposals, with one arguing that such a high rate would not teach visitors “respect”. Claudio Vernier, the former president of the St Mark’s Square association, said the fee is a “pure illusion”.
He shared his thoughts on social media: “To believe that an entry fee of €100 can solve this sick system is a pure illusion. Asking 100 euros to enter does not educate the visitor. It doesn’t teach them respect, and it doesn’t make them more aware.”
He added: “Those who spend a similar amount will expect a perfect, luxurious, frictionless ‘theme park’ experience — an expectation that cannot be met in a lively, historic, fragile city.”