Venice & The Tourist

Venice plots ban on day-trippers to stop overcrowding

Venice is considering a radical scheme under which it would restrict the number of visitors to the city by banning day-trippers, helping it cope with the crush of mass tourism.

The Italian city's beleaguered authorities are calling for "drastic decisions" to stop Venice from being strangled by the daily influx of hordes of visitors who crowd its narrow alleyways and Renaissance squares.

One proposal is that visitors will have to have hotel reservations to secure entry

Enrico Mingardi, who is in charge of public transport for the lagoon city, is proposing that tourists should have to pre-book their visits.

Mr Mingardi did not say how the booking system would be enforced, or whether tourists without hotel, museum or boat trip reservations would be turned back.

But he said the council would initiate discussions with tourist associations and residents' groups this week to explore the idea.

A council spokesman said: "The idea of setting a limit on the number of tourists has been discussed on and off for the last 20 or 30 years.

"It's always proved very controversial because it goes against the democratic principle that anyone should be able to come to Venice."

A booking system would only add to the sense that "La Serenissima" is becoming an architectural and historical theme park devoid of real life.

Its population is expected in the next few weeks to dip beneath 60,000 – a level which some residents see as the crucial number of inhabitants needed for Venice to survive as a functioning city, rather than as a vast open air museum.

No doubt the EU will step in with million’s to help Venice out or start to issue special “Tourist Cards” to enable card holders to visit sites throughout the EU.