Venice to double number of entry fee days in 2025, from April to July, and hike the price of last-minute bookings.

Venice is to extend its day-tripper entry fee in 2025, after launching the controversial scheme earlier this year, in an effort to tackle overtourism in the Italian canal city.

The €5 entry ticket, which was in effect on 29 days including public holidays and weekends from 25 April to 14 July, was introduced to ease pressure on Venice from mass tourism.

Venice mayor Luigi Brugnaro on Thursday confirmed that the lagoon city will continue the €5 entry fee system next year, almost doubling the number of days it will be in effect, from 29 to 54.

The day-tripper entry fee will however be increased to €10 for tourists who book less than four days in advance, Brugnaro said, assuring that the system did not apply to the city's residents who will be required to show their identity cards.

“Venice is at the forefront in tackling overtourism,” Brugnaro said in a statement, adding that the scheme is designed to discourage tourists from visiting the city on the same days, in order to guarantee Venice "the respect it deserves".

Oggi abbiamo presentato le novità della sperimentazione del contributo di accesso per l’anno 2025.

A #Venezia stiamo cercando di affrontare il tema dell’overtourism, inserendo un sistema di prenotabilità della Città.

Grazie al lavoro di tante persone tra cui dirigenti,… pic.twitter.com/gBBRab5n1a

— Luigi Brugnaro (@LuigiBrugnaro) October 24, 2024

The entry fee only applies to tourists on day trips, not visitors staying in Venice overnight, and is effective from 08.30 to 16.00.

In 2025 the entry fee will be in force every day from 18 April to 4 May after which it will be in operation every weekend until the end of July, including Friday, Saturday and Sunday and no longer just Saturday and Sunday as it was this year.

In addition to the city's residents there are various categories exempt from paying the fee, including children under 14, disabled visitors with their carers, residents of the Veneto region, university students enrolled in Venice, and those visiting relatives who live in the city.

The 29-day entry fee system came to an end on 14 July after around 485,000 paying visitors earned the city more than €2 million, roughly three times what authorities expected.

In the first eight days of the scheme in April, the city collected the same amount estimated for the entire three-month duration of the pilot project.

The entry fee system reportedly cost Venice authorities around €3 million, with expenses including the communication campaign, ticket checks and setting up the booking website.

Criticised by opponents as ineffective in reducing crowds, the scheme sparked protests from some local residents who accused the city of turning Venice into a "theme park".

Last year UNESCO warned that Venice was at risk of "irreversible damage" from climate change and mass tourism, blaming Italian authorities for a "lack of strategic vision" and warning that the canal city risked being listed as an endangered world heritage site.

However, at a subsequent summit, UNESCO member states disregarded warnings that the city was in danger, praising Venice's proposed daytripper entry fee as part of efforts to ease pressure on the fragile lagoon city.

Venice, which has been a World Heritage Site since 1987, avoided being added to the UNESCO blacklist in 2021 after Italy adopted several measures, notably the banning of large cruise ships.

Photo credit: Perekotypole / Shutterstock.com.