Recently, the Italian parliament have passed their 2019 budget which allows Venice to charge a tourist tax for all guests whether they spend the night in the city or not. This comes due to the fact that not even a third of tourists spend a night in one of its more than 1,500 hotels and B&Bs.
As part of Italy’s 2019 budget, which was passed with a parliamentary majority, Venice has now been given permission to charge tourists who do not spend the night as much as $12 a day for just setting foot in the canal city.
Last May, the Venice city council introduced turnstiles into the old city from the main square used by the hordes of cruise-ship passengers who are seen to be the most problematic tourists—and primary target of the new tax—to the city.
Cruise ships have been a problem for Venice for years. Not only do the massive ocean liners erode the canals when they pass by the Grand Canal near St. Mark’s Square, but the tourists themselves contribute nothing but chaos with little return, because they generally eat their meals and spend their nights back on their ships.
(Image credit: Jan Tielens/Unsplash)