Venice halts overtourism

VENICE has a population of around 50,000 but is invaded each year by millions of tourists.

Overtourism there has reached the point where Unesco was expected to add the city to its World Heritage in Danger list last September.  Instead, the World Heritage Committee stated that Venice faced “major challenge’s and called on Italy to continue safeguarding Venice.

This was the second time that Venice’s status was at stake, averted in 2021 by restricting cruise ships with a certain size, weight or pollution levels from using the Giudecca Canal.

New protection measures include a €5 tourist tax for day-trippers over the age of 14 who enter the Old City on 29 peak days, including weekends, between April and mid-July.  City hall emphasised that this was “not a tool for making cash” but was directed at regulating crowds, encouraging longer visits and improving the quality of life for Venice residents.

Echoing the decision taken by Athens to cap the number of  people visiting the Acropolis, Venice will also limit groups in some areas in a move to ease the pressure of overtourism.

Coming into effect in June 2024, groups visiting the Old City will be limited to 25, approximately half the number of passengers on an average tourist bus.  Loudspeakers “which can generate confusion and disturbances” used by tour guides will be banned, announced the Venice city hall’s Public Safety official Elisabetta Pesce.

This would improve  the transit of groups through Venice’s historic centre as well as the much-visited islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello, Pesce said.