Venice is going to broaden its tourist entry fee system in 2025, almost doubling the number of days visitors will have to pay to see the lagoon city, and hiking the price for last-minute arrivals, officials said on Thursday. In a world first, the Italian destination introduced a 5- euro charge in April for daytrippers arriving on particularly congested days, hoping the levy would help thin the crowds. Mayor Luigi Brugnaro stressed that the tax aims to help the city and its citizens battle overtourism and avoid huge influxes of visitors during crowded holidays and weekends. FILE PHOTO: Tourists walk in St Mark's Square on the day Venice municipality introduces a new fee for day trippers in a move to preserve the lagoon city often crammed with tourists in Venice, Italy, April 25, 2...
Read MoreTag: Venice
The owner of Harry's Bar, a Venetian bar and restaurant frequented by Ernest Hemingway, has filed a legal complaint demanding city authorities do more to stop boats speeding through canals and causing damaging high waves. Venice has long been threatened by flooding and "moto ondoso", the erosion of its buildings by waves. To try and limit the waves, strict speed limits apply to boats within its waters of between 5 to 20 kilometres per hour. FILE PHOTO: Harry's Bar is pictured in Venice, Italy. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch Harry's Bar owner Arrigo Cipriani says the speed limits are often ignored and poorly enforced, however. "We filed a complaint with the authorities in charge of maritime traffic in Venice (...) about the state of the (canal) banks which are lapped by the waves and ...
Read MoreVenetians and visitors alike welcomed new rules introduced on Thursday to limit the size of tourist groups in the latest effort to reduce overcrowding. Tourist parties will be capped at 25 people and guides will be barred from using loudspeakers to help the flow of pedestrians and make it more peaceful for residents. "I think it's right," said 81-year-old local Edie Rubert. "It would be better to reduce it more. Because you can't walk along the narrow canalside streets when these groups are there," she added, saying it was even worse when she needed to use her shopping trolley. Local police fines a tour guide on the day Venice municipality introduces a limit for tourist groups to 25 people to protect the fragile lagoon city and reduce the pressure of mass tourism in Venice, It...
Read MoreVenice's experimental payment system for tourists only had a limited impact on reducing crowds in the lagoon city, meaning prices will almost certainly be hiked next year, a politician who led the project said on Friday. In a world first, the famed Italian destination introduced a 5-euro ($5.44) charge in April for daytrippers arriving on particularly congested days, hoping the levy would deter some people from visiting. The pilot scheme, which has been watched closely by other European tourist hotspots, covered just 29 days and will end on Sunday, opening the way for a period of consultation to decide how to proceed with the project in future. FILE PHOTO: A woman wearing a mask poses in front of the St. Marks church during the Venice Carnival in Venice, Italy, Sunday Jan. 28, 20...
Read MoreVenice authorities on Thursday unveiled a pilot program to charge day-trippers 5 euros ($5.45) apiece to enter the fragile lagoon city on peak weekends next year in an effort to reduce crowds, encourage longer visits and improve the quality of life for residents. The rollout of the tourist “contribution” program came after Venice, a UNESCO World Heritage site, narrowly escaped being placed on the U.N. agency’s danger list earlier this year because of the threat that overtourism was having on its delicate ecosystem. Member states cited the proposed new entry fee in deciding to spare Venice from the list. FILE PHOTO: A view of St. Mark’s Square in Venice, Italy. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro stressed Thursday that the fee is not a new tourist tax or an attempt t...
Read MoreA UNESCO committee has decided not to add Venice to the organisation's World Heritage List in Danger, disregarding a recommendation from experts and sparing the Italian government from an embarrassing verdict on the city's condition. "The World Heritage Committee ... has made the decision not to inscribe Venice and its Lagoon on the World Heritage List in Danger," UNESCO, the U.N. cultural agency, said in a statement as the committee met in Riyadh. FILE PHOTO: Tourists in Venice, Italy August 22, 2023. REUTERS/Manuel Silvestri Italian Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano said adding Venice to the list would have been an "undue move" not based on objective facts. "Venice, therefore, is not in danger," he said in a statement. Venice, known for its canals and cultural sites, has ...
Read MoreVenice plans to experiment with an admission fee of 5 euros ($5.35) for day trippers next year to try to manage the flow of tourists drawn to its historic canals, the city council said on Tuesday. The fee will be applied on a trial basis on 30 days next year, focusing mainly on spring bank holidays and summer weekends when tourism numbers are at their peak. All visitors over the age of 14 will have to pay it. The aim was to find "a new balance between the rights of those who live, study or work in Venice and those who visit the city," Venice tourism councillor Simone Venturini said. It is not a money-making move, he added, saying the fee would only cover the cost of administering the scheme. FILE PHOTO: Tourists walk during a new heatwave as temperatures are expected to reach ...
Read MoreUNESCO experts have recommended that Venice and its lagoon be added to its list of World Heritage in Danger as Italy is not doing enough to protect the city from the impact of climate change and mass tourism. UNESCO World Heritage Centre experts regularly review the state of the UN cultural agency's 1,157 World Heritage sites, and at a meeting in Riyadh in September, a committee of 21 UNESCO member states will review more than 200 sites and decide which to add to the danger list. For nearly 10 of these sites, the experts recommend that member states put them on the danger list, among which already are the historic centre of Odessa, Ukraine, the town of Timbuktu in Mali, and several sites in Syria, Iraq and Libya. FILE PHOTO: Tourists shelter from the sun in St. Mark's Square as t...
Read MoreThe waters in Venice's main canal turned fluorescent green on Sunday in the area near the Rialto bridge and authorities are seeking to trace the cause, Italy's fire department said. The governor of the Veneto region, Luca Zaia, posted a photo of the green liquid that spread through the water near the arched Rialto Bridge. The patch was reported by residents. A gondola navigates along Venice's historical Grand Canal as a patch of phosphorescent green liquid spreads in it, Sunday, May 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Luigi Costantini) Images on social media show a bright patch of green in the canal along an embankment lined with restaurants. Zaia said that officials had requested that the police investigate to determine who was responsible. Environmental authorities were also testing the wat...
Read MoreScottish-Ghanaian architect Lesley Lokko is giving a platform to voices that have long been silenced at this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale, which opened Saturday, the first ever curated by an African, featuring a preponderance of work by Africans and the African diaspora. The 18th architectural Biennale, titled “The Laboratory of the Future,” explores decolonization and decarbonization, topics about which Africans have much to say, Lokko said, citing the long exploitation of the continent for both human and environmental resources. A view of "Coastal Imaginaries" installation at the Denmark pavilion, at the Biennale International Architecture exhibition, in Venice, Italy, Wednesday, May 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) “The Black body was Europe’s first unit of energy,”...
Read More
You must be logged in to post a comment.