Venice's Day-Tripper Tax Didn't Slow the Tourists

City expands its day-tripper tax program to combat overtourism
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Apr 18, 2025 11:34 AM CDT
Day-Trippers, Venice Is Taxing You
Stewards check tourists' QR codes outside the main train station in Venice, Italy, Friday, April 18, 2025, as the city for a second year is charging day-trippers an arrivals tax.   (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Venice is charging day-trippers to the famed canal city an arrivals tax for the second year starting Friday, a measure to combat the overtourism that officials say is putting the city's UNESCO World Cultural Heritage status at risk. A UNESCO body decided against putting Venice on its list of cultural heritage sites deemed in danger after the tax was announced. But opponents of the day-tripper fee say it has done nothing to discourage visits. Here's a look at Venice's battle with overtourism, per the AP:

  • 5-10 euros (about $6-$11): The tax charged to visitors who are not overnighting in Venice to enter its historic center. Visitors who download a QR code at least three days in advance will pay the lesser amount, but those who make last-minute plans will pay double.

  • 54: The number of days this year that day visitors to Venice will be charged a fee to enter the historic center. That is up from 29 last year.
  • 2.4 million: The amount in euros that Venice took in during the 2024 pilot program for the tax. The city's top budget official, Michele Zuin, said last year the running costs for the new system ran to 2.7 million euros, overshooting the total fees collected. This year, Zuin projects a surplus of about 1 million euros to 1.5 million euros.
  • 450,000: The number of day-trippers who paid the tax in 2024.
  • 75,000: The average number of daily visitors on the first 11 days of 2024 that Venice charged. That's about 10,000 people more than the number of tourists recorded on each of the three important holidays during the previous year. City council member Giovanni Andrea Martini, an opponent of the measure, said the figures show the project has not deterred visitors.

  • 48,283: The number of official residents in Venice's historic center composed of over 100 islands connected by footbridges and traversed by its famed canals.
  • 51,129: The number of beds for tourists in Venice's historic center, including 12,627 in the less regulated short-term rental market. The number of tourist beds surpassed the number of permanent residents in 2023. Anyone staying in a hotel within city limits pays a lodging tax and is exempt from the day-tripper tax.
  • 25 to 30 million: The number of annual arrivals of both day-trippers and overnight guests.
(More Venice stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X