Venice will start charging tourists a 5-euro entrance fee during peak hours – Rossiyskaya Gazeta

This covers the 29 days from April to mid-July, including most weekends, but tourists will only have to pay the fee during peak hours between 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. to Venice for dinner or to attend a concert will not have to pay, reports the Daily Mail.

The plans, called the “tourism contribution programme”, will focus on reducing crowding in Venice, but also aim to encourage longer visits and improve quality of life for residents. Venice, a UNESCO World Heritage site, narrowly avoided being placed on the UN agency’s list of cities in danger earlier this year due to the threat of too many tourists to its fragile ecosystem.

Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro stressed that the tax is neither a new tourist tax nor an attempt to generate additional revenue. “Our attempt is to make the city more livable,” he said. Authorities announced exemptions to fees, including for residents and visitors born in Venice, students and workers, and tourists who have previously booked a hotel or other accommodation.