Facing the specter of sinking and an economy displacing locals, Venice last month introduced a measure as ambitious because it is controversial: a so-called “tourist tax” on day-trippers. But after just a number of weeks, the floating city has hardly proved it has found an answer to its love-hate relationship with 20 million visitors a 12 months.
The northern Italian city collected nearly 1 million euros ($1.1 million) in fees in the primary 11 days of charging visitors 5 euros ($5.36) a day to enter, latest data show.
However, the costs don’t appear to have had the intended effect of deterring tourists from making a fast stopover.
The latest data shows that 70,000 visitors got here to Venice on May 19. That’s greater than the 65,000 registered visitors on June 2 last 12 months, a national holiday in Italy and before the tourist tax was introduced. Since the debut, 195,000 tickets have been sold to visitors.
If the numbers weren’t declining, Venice officials would have not less than expected the tax to subsidise the economic contribution of traditionally stingy day-trippers. Although they do not spend as much as long-term visitors, they make up 80 per cent of all travellers to Venice annually.
But the tax may not help the town’s funds that much. If Venice continues to gather as much because it did in the primary eleven days of operation, it could not even have the opportunity to cover the numerous expenses of implementing the project, not less than not through the testing phase.
Between establishing an internet booking system, launching information campaigns and paying officials to perform ticket checks, Italian newspaper The Sera Corriere The city reportedly spent 3 million euros (3.3 million dollars) on the project.
The tourist tax was levied on a trial basis on “29 peak days” between April and July. Extrapolating Venice’s current haul of $1.1 million in the primary 11 of as of late, the town may not recoup its original expenditure before the tip of July.
Local opposition
Given the strong reactions from locals, it’s up for debate whether the tourist tax shall be prolonged beyond the present probationary period.
In the run-up to the tax’s introduction last month, Venetians gathered on the town’s streets to protest against its introduction.
The motivations for the opposition were varied. Some locals fear it will turn Venice right into a “theme park” and do little to enhance the town’s status on the world stage.
Others accused Venice of using the doorway fee as a diversionary tactic to justify the local government’s failure to unravel the town’s housing crisis.
“They should repair the thousands of abandoned houses in this city. However, that probably won’t happen. Instead, residents are moving further away, the city is emptying out and all we are doing is boosting tourism,” said Venice resident Nicola Ussardi Euronews Last month.
Calls for the tax to be scrapped are growing as data shows the tax has not resulted in a decline in visitor numbers.
“The ticket measure in Venice has failed miserably because it is the numbers that matter and it is said that the ticket has in no way reduced the flow of tourists or staggered arrivals, but that arrivals are numerically higher compared to previous years,” Giovanni Andrea Martini of the town council group All The City Together said at a press conference this week.
The “tourist tax” is just the most recent move by the local government to curb the impact of day-trippers.
In January, the town introduced a cap on gatherings in the town of 25 people, about half the dimensions of a typical tourist bus.
Venice’s relationship with its most lucrative source of income, visitors, is more likely to remain complicated. But authorities hope they’ll turn around what they called a “miserable failure” before indignant locals force them to achieve this.
