Traveling to Venice (Italy) just got a little expensive. Travelers hoping to wander through St Mark’s Square, take a romantic gondola ride or see the splendour of the Doge’s Palace will have to stump up €3 (which can go up to €10 during peak season) after the Italian Parliament passed the measure aimed at tackling the tourist crisis in the city.
Once the world’s greatest market city where exotic goods from across Asia met wealthy Europeans at the end of the Silk Road, Venice now relies primarily on the tourist dollar.
If you have been to Venice, you would probably know that the city already has a visitor tax for tourists who stay overnight. But according to stats and reports, about half the tourists who visit Venice spend just one day there. They usually take a one day cruise to Venice & eat and sleep on the ship itself, bringing no income to the local business.
It is not spelled out at the moment exactly how they will collect the money at first, but eventually the transport companies bringing in visitors will add the amount to the cost of the ticket.
But worry not long stayers, according to an official's statement, only tourists visiting on single day trips will be made to pay the fee to enter, while those staying overnight will be exempt('cause they're already paying a tax).
What do you think of this move?
Even though its not a huge sum, but should the tourists be forced to pay some tax to enter a city?