If Venice’s romantic gondola descent is on the 2019 to-do list, you might want to be prepared for some expense. The Italian government is trying to impose new taxes on tourists.
Mayor Bruñaro announced in a Twitter post that a tax called Contribution di Subaruco or Visit Tax will be introduced from the end of December.
It costs $ 11.50 to enter a World Heritage Site known for its intricate canals and narrow streets, and this tax revenue will be used to clean and repair the city.
A long time on the results of the discussions ranged in part and Brussels of Italian tax revenue budget of 2019, bus or train to this tax, a ticket fee of pleasure boat is included there is a possibility, the city council how We are continuing to consider whether to operate it.
Venice has already imposed a tax when staying at a hotel. Accommodation tax revenue in 2017 was $ 38.6 million . However, this time we are targeting tourists who do not stay overnight, visiting for pleasure boats. Such tourists account for more than half of the 30 million visitors annually .
The exceptions are short-term visitors to Venice for students and business and locals .
Also, it is not yet clear whether the visit tax will replace the hotel tax.
- The price of tourism:
Venice, Italy, has announced that it will postpone the start date of the “admission fee” collection from city tourists, which was planned to be implemented as a measure to curb overtourism, to July 1, 2021.
The measure to require tourists to pay the entrance fee was announced in the fall of 2019 in an attempt to curb the influx of tourists into the city, which is said to be 60,000 people a day. Specifically, it was planned to be implemented in 2020 with the content of collecting 3 euros in the off-season and 10 euros in the high season from tourists who do not stay in the city.
However, due to the blockade of the city due to the corona wreck and international restrictions on movement, the number of tourists in Venice fell sharply, and the economic loss was serious. “It’s not the right time to collect (admission fee) right away,” said Mayor Luigi Bruñaro, who decided to review the start time.
Meanwhile, Mayor Brunaro said at a recent press conference that a plan to set up a rotary ticket gate in the entire area is being considered as a concrete plan for collecting admission fees and controlling the number of visitors. People who need to go in and out of the city on a daily basis, such as residents, office workers and students who go to the city, will be given a virtual pass card through the smartphone app.
The mayors predict that it will take a year for the economy hit by the corona wreck to recover to pre-blockade levels, but they are confident that “tourists will soon return to Venice.” ing.
The Venetian people have long been worried and protested how to deal with excessive tourist visits to the city, including damage to historic buildings such as the San Marco Temple and the Rialto Bridge .
Also, cleaning Venice is more difficult and expensive than in other Italian cities, as it relies on boats to transport supplies.
According to the report, the city has to collect garbage every 30 minutes because tourists put out a lot of garbage in the summer .
- Towards a sustainable city:
More and more cities are introducing tourism taxes in Europe and some parts of the world as a way for local governments to mitigate the environmental impact of tourism.
Tourists are also taxed in other Italian cities, including Florence, which charges a hotel tax of € 5 ($ 5.70). The Mayor of Florence is calling for the taxation of day-trippers to begin, following Venice.
In the Balearic Islands of Spain, the “sustainable tourist tax” was doubled in May 2018 to € 4 per person per night ($ 4.60). This tax revenue is used to protect the nature of the island.
Enabling tourism, travel and its ecosystem is an important impetus for growth. According to the 2017 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report of the World Economic Forum, tourism revenue accounts for 10% of the world’s GDP, and the tourism industry creates 10% of existing jobs.
By using tax revenues like in Venice, you can also motivate yourself to travel and protect the environment.