The pilot phase of the “entrance ticket to Venice” started this morning. The “ticket” costs 5 euros, which must be paid by those who visit Galinotati for a day trip and arrive in town before 4 pm. This experimental phase concerns the period until the end of June with a total of 30 days of implementation of the pilot project.
Residents of the greater Venice area, students, those moving to the city for work and health reasons, as well as tourists staying overnight in hotels and rented houses or rooms are exempt from paying the ticket. According to the regulation, the fine for anyone who should have a ticket, but has not issued it, amounts to 300 euros, but during the first period of implementation of the plan, the authorities have stated that they will be flexible.
According to the data released by the municipality of Venice, over 80,000 people have made “reservations” on the website www.cda.ve.it for today.
The vast majority, however, are exempt from payment, since only seven thousand paid the entry tax.
Employees of companies, cooperating with the municipality, carry out checks on arriving visitors, mainly at the city’s train station.
The mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, has emphasized that “this is a measure that does not aim at the substantial financial strengthening of the city’s coffers, but at the regulation, if possible, of mass tourism” and that “any controls will be carried out in a polite and friendly manner to the visitors”.
This is the first experiment of its kind in the whole world and the results of this first period will depend on whether the “entrance ticket” will continue to be valid in the future and exactly at what times of the year.
