Protests at tourist price: Venice is facing a new crisis!

Protests at tourist price: Venice is facing a new crisis!

From Good Friday, April 14, 2025, a new tourist fee is due in Venice, which regulates access to the city during the main visit times. This measure was introduced to contain the increasing influx of day tourists who often only spend a few hours in the city. The fee is 10 euros for visitors who do not live in Venice, provided that the booking is made at least four days in advance. In a previous test run, a fee of 5 euros over a month was raised to observe the effects on the number of visitors. Kleine Zeitung reports that the fees are due from 8.30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Visitors who arrive without the required QR code risk punishments of up to 300 euros when controlling. The QR code is sent to the guests' cell phone after payment. Certain groups are excluded from the fee, including locals, students and people who work in Venice or spend the night there, as well as children under the age of 14. Despite these regulations, there is growing resistance to the fee. So-called "ticket refusers" have called on social media not to pay the fee of what the authorities alerted because fake QR codes are spread on the Internet. Euronews added that hundreds of people have already demonstrated against the fees.

inhabitants and financial backgrounds

In the last test phase of the entrance fee, the authorities registered 485,000 paying visitors and recorded income of over 2.4 million euros. This is an indication of the enormous interest, but also to the fact that the city has become a hotspot of mass tourism. Many residents feel the fee as a distraction from the actual challenges that Venice's overcrowding entails. Mayor Luigi Brugnaro has emphasized that it is not a measure to generate money, but that it should serve to reduce the overload and the associated problems.

Venice is not only in this fight against overtourism. The city sees itself similar to other popular travel destinations worldwide. Tourexpi describes that many destinations, including Santorina and Machu Picchu, suffer from the same stress and similar measures in Raise to regulate tourist flows and protect the local infrastructure. This makes it clear that overtourism remains a global problem that urgently needs to be addressed.