At the beginning of spring 2022, an ode to the Venice authorities decided to introduce a tourist tax for city guests who come for 1 day. The reason is the load on infrastructure, the increase in city budget expenditures. At the same time, tourists do not book rooms in hotels or hostels. That reduces the income from the tourism business.
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Reasons for the abolition of the tourist tax in Venice
The number of holidaymakers arriving in early spring 2022 in the resort city reached the level before the COVID -19 pandemic. However, one-day tours have become popular, when independent travelers do not book hotel rooms, do not sign up for paid city tours. In fact, there is a load on city services, and there is no return in the form of cash receipts.
In this regard, the authorities of Venice decided to introduce a special tourist tax for such independent travelers. How it works.
- Upon arrival in the city, the tourist checks the hotel reservation.
- If it is missing, the guest is obliged to pay a tourist fee.
- The payment slip is valid for 1 day only. An additional charge is required to stay at the resort for the next night.
- When booking a hotel room, the tourist tax is cancelled.
Such a practice should increase the income to the budget of Venice, improving the work of municipal and public services of the city. This should affect the quality of service for tourists and independent travelers. However, there is a possibility of a decrease in the tourist flow, especially for those traveling by car in Europe.
Why the tourist tax was postponed in Venice in the summer of 2022
At the peak of the season, the number of tourists and independent travelers visiting the city exceeds 110 thousand people a day. Their number increases on holidays and weekends when people want to spend the weekend. Such an uneven load affects the comfort of vacationers, the quality of service decreases. To increase income to the city budget and increase the cost of improving the resort, the authorities introduce a special contribution for vacationers.
However, this measure is delayed for the following reasons:
- a possible decrease in the number of tourists, which will affect the income of the budget and travel companies, hotels;
- the payment system is not fully developed, which can lead to conflict situations with vacationers;
- there is no clear mechanism for monitoring payment, the procedure for verifying the fact of payment of tax.
These difficulties should be resolved during 2022. Most likely, a trial model will be launched to test the mechanism. A prerequisite is feedback from tourists, their feedback on the new tourist tax in Venice.
When is the fee to be introduced?
The new tourist tax in Venice will come into effect on January 16, 2023. Before that, all stages of payment, control by local authorities will be tested. The amount of the tax is not constant, during the peak season it will be 10 Euros, on other days – 3 Euros. For up-to-date information before the trip, it is recommended to visit the official website of Venice. The actual payment amounts for day trippers will be posted here.
Who will be exempt from paying tax:
- students;
- transit passengers;
- guests who came for work;
- tourists who have booked rooms in hotels in the historical center of the city, they pay a standard fee of 5 Euro.
- Children and preferential categories of vacationers.
At the entrance to Venice, at stations and highways, it is planned to install checkpoints. It will be a standard turnstile system with the possibility of automatic payment of tourist tax. Whether it will be possible to carry money online on the official website of Venice is still unknown.