Overtourism has been a longstanding problem for Venice now. And with the country soon opening up its doors to travellers right in time for summer travel, it is once again looking at a massive influx of travellers in the upcoming months. In order to deal with this recurring problem, the city might soon introduce a pre-booking system for all visitors looking to enter the city. According to reports, the city may soon introduce an entry fee for day trippers — up to €10.
According to reports, the main tourist hotspots in Venice — such as Palazzo Ducale and Piazza San Marco — witnessed a heavy influx of travellers during the Easter weekend with the number almost inching towards the pre-pandemic visitors. The ancient city’s infrastructure can only handle a certain number of travellers at given time without straining the resources. In fact, overcrowding of streets during the peak season has long been a complaint by the locals. Right before the pandemic, in 2019, Venice recorded an unusually high number of travellers — 30 million — out of which most had entered the city just for a day. The city is now looking at ways to regulate the number of travellers in order to provide a pleasant experience to travellers, as well as avoiding any inconvenience to the locals.
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The authorities are looking at introducing a new pre-booking system to the city to regulate the number of people entering the city. This pilot project is all set to launch in June this year. Once the visitors have registered and their registration is approved, they will receive a QR code which will need to be scanned at any one of the entry points to Venice. However, the entry fee, according to reports, will kick in January next year. This booking fee will have to be borne by day visitors, ie the ones not staying the night. And this booking fee could range between €10 on peak days to €3 during the off-season. However, it is slated to be priced at nearly €6.
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According to a report, the website for pre-booking is in works and those who make the pre-booking will also receive certain discounts, for example on museum tickets. The authorities plan to cap the number of visitors nearly 40,000-50,000 per day.
As for who all require to pre book an entry to the city, only residents, their relatives, children under six and people staying in Venice for at least a night are exempted. They will, however, require sign up on the system. For students and workers, who go to Venice on a daily basis, a virtual key on the smartphone will be made available and only the spots that are left will be allotted to day-trippers. If, on any given day, the number of people within the city limits exceed, then the day trippers will be turned away.
