Venice, 25 April 2024 – First day of ticket in Venice and there is already a boom in requests. I’m beyond that 100 thousand people who have registered their presence in the city today, April 25, even if they are only 8 thousandless than one in ten, according to data updated yesterday afternoon, those who have paid immediately the 5 euro voucher to access the historic center. All other accesses are for people exempt from the access fee introduced by the Municipality of Venice (Venetian citizens, workers, students and other categories), required to register on the online platform but not to pay. Among these, 30,300 are guests of the accommodation facilities, 9,450 are Venetians, potential “day” holidaymakers.
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AND assault on the gazebo for payment or exemption from the access fee outside the Venice train station. Added to the many tourists and commuters on holiday is the crowd of journalists come from much of the world to study the first “ticket” designed for visiting a city. Tighten up the controls which lead to the “corridors” to access the nearby Scalzi bridge or the Lista di Spagna, obligatory passages to San Marco, of which today is his celebration: he is the Patron Saint of Venice. There is a bit of amazement, few were prepared for such an imposing machine at one of the main terminals of the city but no one is complaining.
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Divided tourists, with or without exemption on the contribution to be paid. A family from Puglia hosting family members in Veneto is exempt but must register. They snort at the machine to register, something doesn’t add up, they ask the assistant for help and in the meantime they comment “it’s not right to pay or be registered” but to the objection about the evils of overtourism they reply “this isn’t right either”. The unanimous approval of foreign tourists who pay, they are mainly Americans, French and Spanish. “We understood the problem, Italy is made up of ancient cities – says an American lady who came from Florence -, there’s nothing wrong to pay if you can then visit the city better. The only problem is the time that runs away in queues. If they had told us this in Florence we might have paid in another way.” Embarrassment for a group of girls from Vicenza. They have to go to lunch in Pellestrina – they are exempt because it is an island – but they don’t know whether they have to register or not, they look for information on the totems but are immediately kidnapped by a TV for an interview.
I’m in Venice by mid-morning 100 thousand people arrivedof these 8 thousand paid the access fee. The data was announced by the councilors for Budget and Tourism, Michele Zuin and Simone Venturini. “Is going Everything OK – says Zuin – at least we think so, no one protested and almost everyone was informed”. “We need to try to change – adds Venturini – and to do so we need to take risks, be seen as unpopular and lose votes but if we don’t try anything, if we don’t have the courage to act we won’t get anywhere”. Behind them they arrive from the Santa Lucia train station droves of tourists with trains long distance. There are checks and everyone waves the paper with the QR code, they are mostly exempt because they go to the hotel and pay the tourist tax but some do not have the document and are asked to pay the 5 euro ticket. A system that inaugurates the 29 days chosen for restricted entry into the city in 2024 and the first period runs from today to May 5th.
“Nothing has ever been done about it regulate tourism, politics doesn’t do it because it has no interest in doing so. I did it”. The mayor of Venice said it Luigi Brugnaro in front of the station, where the gates were installed for the start of the experimentation on the access contribution to the historic city. “I’m sorry about the discomfort but we have to do something – he added – we can’t just talk, we have to try to do something and now we are doing it because we have the duty and the task of leaving and preserve the city for future generations.”
“The fear of change is legitimate – underlined Mayor Brugnaro – but this too can serve to improve but if fear blocks everything there is no progress, there is no future. Today we spend more money than we collect – he continued – but this is not an expense, it’s a way to make people understand that We must change and so dilute visits to the city avoiding blockages and people are understanding this, is there any protest? Okay, we accept it, it’s legitimate, I just hope it helps to improve.”
“There experimentation will be medium-long – explained Mayor Brugnaro -, we must collect data and information to then calibrate the system, offer services as the QR code already does which has the city map with, for example, the toilets marked and then when we move on to the economic profit everything will work out in services to the city: we no longer have the funding from the Special Law for Venice even if, if it is found for the Messina bridge, it could also be found for this unique city. The greatest satisfaction – he concluded – is seeing those who approach the gates waving the access QR code: they understand”.
