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Venice rolls out day-tripper fee to try to regulate mass crowds on peak weekends (english.elpais.com)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] -3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The article says €5 "apiece" which is €60 for the whole family unless I'm wrong in my understanding? Enough money flows into the local economy without tourists needing to be forced to "contribute" even further. Thus, hostile.

Venice has been pointing to longer-term tourists as key to its survival since they tend to spend more. Brugnaro said in no way does the new day-tripper contribution discourage tourism overall, but just seeks to manage it better.

We tend to stay in Italy for 2 or 3 weeks at a time, with our lodging being in between multiple destinations in the surrounding regions. Venice is off the table if it is an extra €60 per day. It would also cost significantly more in terms of travel if lodging was also in Venice. We would rather spend the money in Piran or Koper, so the "contribution" is doing its job in managing.

For what its worth, even though we are Dutch, we refuse to visit Amsterdam for the same reason and instead stay in the surrounding cities. A tourist tax is simply a local government giving up on finding real solutions and instead is hoping to price people out of visiting. If Venetians are really worried about sinking, they can ask us for help. We have a bit of experience with keeping the sea away 😅

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I mean how you describe your situation sounds like exactly what this tax is meaning to deal with. A big group of people (10 by your numbers?) who only come for the day to use the city like a free open air museum and maybe buy a meal there and then leave having added very little to the economy to the extent that you think €60 is too much to pay for your day there being a part of the extreme congestion the city has.

So if you're not going to come anymore this seems like mission accomplished.

Amsterdam has the same problem with cruise ship tourists. They pile into the city and spend little money and create a nuisance for everyone living here. I think both cities would be much better off without day trip tourists.