Mayor of Popular European Travel Destination Proposes 900% Increase to Tourist Fee

NEED TO KNOW

• Venice, Italy’s mayor, wants to raise the tourist fee for day-trippers during peak season from €5 to €50

• The fee, first introduced in 2024, aims to reduce overcrowding and fund maintenance for the city’s costly infrastructure

• Exemptions include overnight visitors, children under 14, and tourists from the Veneto region

The new mayor of Venice, Italy, reportedly wants to raise a tourist fee for day-trippers by 900%, bringing the cost to visit the city of canals during peak season from €5 ($5.70) to €50 ($57.10). 

Simone Venturini, the former tourism councilor who was recently elected mayor of the Italian city in May, says the proposed hike is meant to be a “stronger deterrent” for travelers “during periods of peak tourist pressure,” according to The Guardian. He says the proposal, which will be sent to the Italian government and parliament, would allow the city to raise its fees once certain booking thresholds have been reached.

In 2024, Venice was the first tourist city in the world to introduce fees for day-trippers during peak travel season. It initially cost visitors €5 on 29 dates between April and July. The following year, there was a fee for 54 total dates, and the fee was doubled for those who booked within three days of the visit. This year, the number of fee days has increased to 60. 

The fee is payable online, and visitors receive a QR code they must present to stewards at the city’s entrance or at popular hotspots. The rule does not apply to those who book an overnight stay in Venice, tourists from the wider Veneto region, and children under the age of 14. Those who are staying in the city are still required to register their presence before entry. 

Venturini says “the admission fee is currently the only effective tool to control daily visitor numbers,” per The Guardian. He says the funds will be used to “finance city services and support the maintenance and protection of a unique city, built on water, whose costs exceed €100m each year.”

PEOPLE has reached out to Venice’s press office for comment. 

According to the Italian newspaper Il Gazzettino, of the 514,710 fees paid in the first 42 days of the 2026 travel season, fewer than half of travelers opted to pay in advance for the discounted rate. 

“The problem is the numbers,” Venice’s budget councilor Michele Zuin told the outlet. “There’s not much difference between €5 and €10. If it were more significant, the effect would be different.”

“This will be the third and final year of testing. After the summer, we’ll have to make decisions to give the measure a more definitive shape,” Zuin said, adding that the city is evaluating whether to extend the fee year-round or to include additional dates such as the Venice Carnival early in the year. 

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Daniel Minotto, the director of Venice’s Association of Hoteliers, told the outlet the proposal “is welcome,” adding it could be an “incentive/disincentive for the most problematic days.”

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