The Italian City of Venice to Implement New Tourist Systems and Fees to Combat Overtourism and Preserve the Beauty of the Place

The Italian City of Venice to Implement New Tourist Systems and Fees to Combat Overtourism and Preserve the Beauty of the Place 

Imagine this: From a control room inside the police headquarters in the Italian city of Venice, Big Brother is watching you… 

Late August this year, Venice announced plans to implement a new tourist fee and reservation system to manage the volume of people planning to visit the city next summer. 

According to the new policy, tourists will have to book a ticket in advance for a fee and enter the city through electronic turnstiles. Meanwhile, the entrance fee to the city will change according to the season. 

For example: If you plan to visit Venice during high season and popular visiting times, expect to pay a fee of EUR 10 (USD 12). On the other hand, if you wish to go to the tourist destination during less popular visiting times, the fee will drop for as low as EUR 3 (USD 3.50). 

The only ones exempted from this policy are those staying in local hotels, provided that they’ve already paid the nightly tax imposed by Venice on tourists. Students, residents and their relatives, and children under 6 years old are also exempted. 

But that’s not all that the city has up its sleeves to combat overtourism. 

Just early this month, Venice once again made headlines as it announced deployment of hundreds of CCTV cameras and a mobile phone tracking system to keep tabs on those who are entering the beloved city. 

By setting up 468 CCTV cameras, optical sensors, and a mobile phone tracking system, Venice City Police will be able to distinguish residents from visitors, Italians from foreigners, where people are coming from, where they are heading, and how fast they’re moving. 

Once this system is put in place, authorities will receive a snapshot of the status of the whole city―the crowds, gondolas sliding through the Canal Grande, overspeeding boats, and even dangerous water levels. 

The goal of these new policies is to track “every person who sets foot in the Lagoon City.” According to Venice City Mayor Luigi Brugnaro, although he’s expecting pushbacks and a few objections on the new measures to control tourism, his aim is to make tourism more sustainable in a city visited by 25 million a year (pre-pandemic times). 

“I expect protests, lawsuits, everything… but I have a duty to make this city liveable for those who inhabit it and also for those who want to visit.” 

And just like what Mayor Brugnaro expected, potential visitors to Venice are skeptical about the new systems. 

According to Marc Shieber, a German national in Venice, 

“It brings the wrong tone in me when I hear that I have to pay entrance just to see the buildings on the streets of the city because who decides who can go in?” 

Meanwhile, another anonymous commenter said, 

“I think it is probably a new way to generate money.” 

Despite these negative comments about the new policies, Brugnaro’s message is clear: By controlling the number of tourists that come to Venice, he also wants travelers to behave. 

Venice has yet to make a decision on how many tourists will be allowed to go in per day and when exactly the measures will take effect (they are expected to be implemented between next summer and 2023). However, the city has already begun taking steps to limit tourism by banning large cruise ships from entering Venice’s famous canals. 

At its busiest pre-pandemic times, Venice draws over 80,000 tourists per day and an estimated 25 million tourists per year. The policies were already discussed in legislation back in 2019, but were delayed due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

When the pandemic hit and thousands of tourists left the city, Venetians saw a big difference. They marveled at the city’s narrow alleys without throngs of tourists and most importantly, the lagoon waters were once again made pristine by the absence of motorboats. 

Now that tourism and the travel industry are opening up once again and as visitors return to flock St. Mark’s Square, officials say Venice cannot afford to let the number of tourists go unchecked and back to where it was before. 

And as part of the city’s efforts to manage and combat overtourism, Mayor Brugnaro made clear that visitors are expected to adhere to certain rules and guidelines. 

“There’ll be conditions attached to obtain priority bookings and discounts. You can’t come in your swimming suit. You can’t jump from a bridge or get drunk. Whoever comes must respect the city.” 

Because of these proactive efforts to save and preserve the beauty of Venice, The UNESCO World Heritage Committee announced that the city would not be included on a list of endangered world heritage sites. 

Venice is not the first city to use CCTV technology extensively. However, it is the first to use this technology to monitor and manage tourists at such a micro-level. 

Given the amount of data the city could collect, it will likely be possible to figure out what the visitors are doing with a much higher degree of precision and to zero in on high spenders that the city would like to attract while curbing the less profitable mass tourism.

Other cities like Dubrovnik and Barcelona will be watching and are likely to follow in Venice’s footsteps if Venice is successful.