One protester said, “We don’t want to be Disneyland.” We are not an open-air museum' Photo: Manuel Silvestri/Reuters
Sylvain Pellarin emerged from Venice train station on a chilly, rainy morning to become the first person in the world to arrive in the city as it introduced an entrance fee for tourists, a controversial initiative now being debated. other tourist hotspots are being closely watched.
The scheme, which has divided opinion in the World Heritage city, is designed to sharply reduce the number of tourist arrivals and ease some of the strain ordinary Venetians have endured for years. .
Sylvain Pellarin, the first person to pay admission, said he would be happy to donate five euros if they were used to defend Venice.
For his part, Mr Pellarin said he was happy to hand over the €5 (£4.30) entry fee at the shiny new ticket office that had opened in front of the station, a few yards from the Grand Canal.
“I’ve been coming to Venice since I was a child and have seen the rise of mass tourism,” said the 55-year-old quality controller from Orleans, France.
“I’m comfortable paying it as long as the money is used correctly to protect the city. I think it's right that you have to pay to see a place like Venice.”
To his right, Mark Mikhanovich decided to receive his entry pass electronically on one of the three digital screens installed in the ticket office.
“I think it's right. Venetians have suffered from overtourism for a long time. As a tourist, you come, eat and leave. Who will clean up all the mess? I would be willing to pay 10 euros. If you're going to visit a beautiful city, why not support it? said Mihanovich, 64, a retired U.S. Army officer who knows Venice well and served at a base in northern Italy.
As the first trains arrived, officials in yellow and white bibs randomly checked tourists to make sure they had a QR code on their phones confirming they had paid for the entrance ticket.
Most seemed, if not happy, at least , have come to terms with it. paying 5 euros each for the right to enter La Serene Serene, as Venice was known throughout its 1000-year history as an independent republic.
“We were supposed to come to Venice yesterday, but we didn’t. I had to pay, so it's a bit of a shame,” said Luca Perotti, 22, from London.
“We could have spent the money on ice cream or something like that. But I think that in the grand scheme of things 5 euros isn't that bad. Although the number of tourists does not seem to have decreased because of this. This place is packed,” said Mr. Perotti, a kitchen and bathroom designer who was on a day trip from Verona with his girlfriend Cody Jamison, 26, a drug store clerk.
A steward checks tickets as people enter Venice on Thursday. Photo: Andrea Merola/Shutterstock
The entrance fee – the first of its kind in the world – applies only to day-trippers.
Tourists who spend money in the city are exempt from the tax for at least one night in the city, as are locals, students, passengers and children under 14, although all are required to register online prior to arrival.
“If our stewards discover that a tourist has not made a payment, they will ask him to do so immediately on his mobile phone,” said Simone Venturini, the city councilor in charge of tourism. “Or they can go in person to the ticket office near the station.”
Tourists caught without a QR code face a fine of up to 300 euros.
The goal is to combat mass tourism , which is slowly destroying the life of Venice, whose population now amounts to less than 50,000 people.
“We want to have fewer day trippers. On some days, Venice is crowded with visitors. We are not closing the city. Everyone can enter. It's just that some people now have to pay,” Mr. Venturini said.
The entry fee will be charged on the 29 busiest days between now and mid-July. “After that we will look at it. It can be extended,” he said.
But such a modest fee is unlikely to deter the millions of foreign tourists eager to see Venice, given the high prices they already face upon arrival. An espresso in a summer cafe on St. Mark's Square costs 12 euros, and a dry martini will cost a wealthy visitor 26 euros.
“We have long wanted to see Venice. It doesn't mean we're going to turn around and leave now that we know we're going to have to pay,” said Kelly Snow, 45, of New Hampshire, who was visiting with her twin sister, Kara Carr, of Colorado. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime trip, so I don't mind having to pay five dollars.”
Several hundred protesters demonstrated against the new tourist tax, saying it would fail to reduce tourist numbers and would not solve the structural problems facing many Venetians.There were brief clashes between some protesters and rioters. police were armed with batons and shields, although no injuries were reported.
Several hundred people then marched through the city's canals with banners reading: Airbnb is killing cities and entry fees will not save Venice.
< p>“We don’t want to be Disneyland. We are not an open-air museum. We are completely against this entry fee,” said Ruggero Tallon of a protest group that also opposes the presence of huge cruise ships in the lagoon.Federica Toninello, from another protest group, told The Telegraph: “This is a sad day for Venice. This distracts from the real problem Venetians face: the lack of affordable housing. 2,000 council houses are empty because the council has not done the work it needs to do. The population of Venice has now dropped to 49,000 people. This is a real problem. We need people who will live here. Instead, there are more and more hotels for tourists. We don't need an entrance fee. We want more affordable homes.”
Venice's municipality insists that entry fees are not a means of making money, and that revenues are barely enough to cover the costs of running the scheme.
Many Venetians are unhappy about this, saying that if entry fees were to be introduced, then the proceeds funds should be used to improve housing conditions, transport and utilities.
“I live on one of the remote islands in the lagoon and the roads are full of potholes,” said Giuseppe, a bar owner who declined to give his last name. “And I think the fee will take money out of the pockets of restaurants and cafes. If a family of four spends 20 euros to enter Venice, they will tend to spend less on food and drink.”
Jan van der Borgh, professor of economics and tourism expert at Venice's Ca' Foscari. The university believes that the entrance fee will not be able to reduce the flow of tourists.
Demonstrators are trying to break through the police cordon and enter Venice at Piazzale Roma. Photo: Stefano Mazzola/Getty Images Europe
About 30 million tourists visit Venice every year, of whom 21 million are day-trippers, he said.
Because many categories of people are exempt from paying fees, he said , this will make it difficult to enforce the law. “And we're already hearing of people sharing their QR codes on Twitter to game the system and avoid paying. The scheme is grossly ineffective and will cost more than the money it will bring in.”
He accused Venetian authorities of speeding up the payment scheme after UNESCO threatened to list the city as a World Heritage Site last year. in danger” due to the threat posed by mass tourism.
“It was a time bomb that the mayor needed to defuse. Not many people will be dissuaded by having to pay five euros. This is less than the price of beer in a regular bar in Venice. I don't think this will have any impact on the numbers.”
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