Added measures in Italy with increasing tourist flows

 Italy is one of my favorite countries to visit, from the ancient wonders of Rome to the charming countryside of Tuscany to the exotic Amalfi Coast, around the boot into the Adriatic and up to Venice. I’m certainly not alone; 65 million foreign visitors arrived in Italy in 2019, and the country is recovering quickly from the pandemic, with 2022 visits back up to 50 million. Those guests spend millions of dollars that are vitally important to the national and local economies, but they also pose challenges, stressing the local environment and municipal services, especially during peak periods.

            Italian tourist hot spots are now taking steps to reduce that stress. Last week, Venice became the first city in the world to introduce a payment system for visitors who are not staying overnight in the city. Day trippers will now have to pay a 5-euro tax (about $5.35) for visiting between 8:30am and 4pm. Residents of the city are exempt, along with students, workers and homeowners. Visitors aged under 14 and tourists with hotel reservations will need to register but won’t be charged the tax. Starting in June, Venice will also limit tour groups to a maximum of 25 people and prohibit the use of loudspeakers by tour guides.

            Venice is a beautiful city and virtually unique in its geography; it’s composed of 126 islands, situation in a lagoon on the northeast coast of the Italian mainland. The main island is crisscrossed by canals, and nearly 500 bridges help connect the various areas of dry land. The international airport, Marco Polo, is on the mainland, with arriving guests using tenders to get from there to the city. Until recently, cruise ships docked at Venice itself, but then UNESCO threatened to put the city on its endangered list unless ships were prohibited. Environmentalists said the liners were causing pollution and eroding the foundations of the city, which suffers from regular flooding.

            Cruise lines were initially supportive of the decision, and started using adjacent ports on their itineraries, using tenders to get their guests to Venice. But recently, NCL has cut Venice from its 2024 and ’25 itineraries entirely. This year, NCL will replace Venice with stops down the coast at Ravenna or at ports in Slovenia and Croatia. Next year, it’ll be another port or a day at sea.

            By the way, some hotels in Venice recently decided to deal with another environmental threat: seagulls. The birds have been a problem for years due to their aggressiveness in snatching food from the hands of tourists or even off tables on the street or balconies. One hotel decided it had had enough when a seagull grabbed an entire steak as a waiter was placing it on a diner’s table. Guests have been issued bright orange water pistols to fight off the birds, but often they don’t have to actually pull the trigger; bird experts say the color itself is a deterrent to the gulls. The birds’ status as a protected species keeps authorities from using more permanent methods to deal with them.

Across the country in Florence, short-term residential rentals on platforms like Airbnb have been banned in the city’s historic center. The Uffizi Gallery, the city’s most famous museum, offers discounts to people arriving before 9am. (Michelangelo’s David, perhaps the world’s most famous sculpture, is in another location, the Galleria dell’Accademia.) Farther west, on the coast, the Cinque Terre region on the Italian Riviera is charging a 15-euro tax to walk most celebrated coastal path that connects the five scenic villages of the region. Also, the path can only be walked in one direction. Another scenic area, the island of Capri off the coast of Naples, has doubled the entry fee charged to ferry passengers, and severely limited the use of automobiles by non-residents.

            Even with these extra charges and restrictions, there’s no doubt that Italy will remain one of the top destinations for Americans, including many of our clients. Ready to go? Give us a call and we’ll get you there! Arrivederci!