Italy's iconic city of Venice is trying a new scheme to reduce overcrowding. It's charging $5 for those who want to visit on busy days. The tax is the first of its kind in the world, and not everyone is happy.

Venice

Venice, the iconic city known for its unique urban landscape built on a lagoon, is introducing a new measure to tackle the challenges of overcrowding due to mass tourism. The city will impose a $5 entry fee for visitors who wish to explore Venice on its busiest days. This initiative marks a pioneering approach globally, aimed at preserving the integrity of this UNESCO World Heritage Site, while seeking a sustainable balance between the needs of the residents, the local community, and the influx of day-trippers. 

To manage the process, visitors are required to download a QR code, serving as their entry pass into the city on specified days. The plan includes a cap on the total number of tourists allowed each day, with the option for visitors to make reservations online. However, physical booths will cater to those without access to a smartphone. Exemptions from this fee apply to Venice's residents, workers, students, individuals with hotel bookings, and children under 14. Enforcement will be carried out by inspectors, who will issue fines ranging from $50 to $300 for non-compliance.

Despite its intent to safeguard Venice's delicate ecosystem and heritage, the initiative has faced criticism, particularly from tourists arguing against the additional financial burden, considering the already significant costs associated with visiting and staying in the city. Venice has a population of just 50,000 residents but welcomes approximately 30 million visitors annually, two-thirds of whom are day-trippers. The city previously took steps against mass tourism by banning cruise ships from docking after a collision incident, and has been actively addressing issues to avoid being placed on the UNESCO World Heritage Endangered List.

The concept of an entrance fee for Venice has sparked a wider dialogue on managing tourism sustainably. Jane D'Amosto, co-founder and member of the NGO We Are Here Venice, highlighted the distinction of the fee targeting day-trippers who do not contribute to the local accommodation sector, suggesting that alternative strategies might be more effective in enhancing Venice's cultural appeal and promoting responsible tourism. D'Amosto emphasized the potential for implementing more direct measures to control visitor numbers and encourage a longer-term stay, thereby supporting the city's economy and heritage preservation efforts more effectively.



Venice launches $5 entry fee for visitors

It's a world-famous urban wonder, built on a lagoon, and a city desperate to stay afloat under the pressure of mass tourism. Venice has long welcomed the flood of visitors that comes to its shores, but the passage of time and the crowds have taken their toll. In a bid to control the damage to this UNESCO World Heritage Site, a solution in the form of an entrance fee, a little more than five dollars, to stem the tide of tourists. This system is very important because we are finding a new balance between the residents, the community and the day-trippers. Anyone wanting to pay a visit to the floating city on certain busy days will need to download a QR code. Total numbers will be limited. Reservations are meant to be made online, but there are booths for those who don't have a smartphone. If you live, work or study in Venice, you don't need to pay, nor do those who have hotel reservations or who are aged under 14. Inspectors patrolling the main entrance points of the city are on the lookout for those who've avoided paying the fee, risking a fine between 50 and 300 dollars. And it hasn't gone down well with some tourists. To deprive a person on a low budget to come here for an hour or two and enjoy the city is surely a shame. Tourists are already paying to come to the country, to visit the city, and to stay in the city you also need to pay, I don't think it's fair. Venice itself has only 50,000 residents, but it welcomes 30 million visitors a year. Two thirds of them come just for the day. The effects that tourism has on the city has long been a source of frustration for its inhabitants. Cruise ships were banned after one collided into a dock, a relief for those who had been campaigning for years over the damage they caused to the lagoon. Venice also narrowly avoided being put on the UNESCO World Heritage Endangered List, as the UN body said the city was addressing the problems of mass tourism. Other tourist destinations will be looking closely at the scheme, if it's a success, it could be replicated elsewhere. When a cappuccino at Venice's famous Florian Café can set you back $13, it might not dissuade too many from visiting. Sonia Gallego, Al Jazeera. All right, well, Jane D'Amosto is a co-founder and member of We Are Here Venice, that's an NGO whose mission is for Venice to remain a living city. She joins us, unsurprisingly perhaps, from Venice, a warm welcome to you. I'm sure many of us have paid things like tourist tax when checking into hotels in places like Amsterdam, Paris or Barcelona. What's the difference here? This is a system that's trying to intercept people that are coming to visit Venice without taking accommodation in Venice or maybe staying in unregulated tourist apartments. So it's a tax on day-trippers who come to Venice. So you're essentially saying there are other ways to potentially raise money that would have a greater impact? My point of view comes from talking to my very personal point of view. My son's girlfriend has been given a job. She's a student and she's been given the job of being a tax ticket controller for the visitors. And I look at her and I think there's so much better things that the Venice municipality, the Venice government could do with the time of a person like her. She could be trained to be a museum guide or a visitor enhancement person for people who come to Venice and then more people would buy tickets to the museums and they'd enjoy the real culture of Venice rather than buying a ticket and then trying to save on the food that they might need while they're here. It's my understanding that given the footfall, the sheer numbers that are passing through such an important historical centre as Venice, that something potentially needs to be done to limit numbers and paying $5, timing entrants. Absolutely. Sorry, go ahead. I would be the first to say Venice needs to limit the numbers of people. But I can't imagine that this quite complicated to execute and questionable instrument, also in terms of individual rights, is the right solution to manage the numbers. They could impose an actual limit on the numbers and they could also, interestingly, fill Venice with more residents. Venice is a city with no housing policy. If there were more residents here, local businesses wouldn't have to cater to mass tourists. They'd be doing other things and Venice wouldn't be the type of destination that people come to for just a few hours. Or if they came for just a few hours, they'd be coming with something much more specific in mind than to just walk the streets and buy a canned drink. And I understand some locals have even described this tax as like paying to get into a theme park. Jane D'Amosto, joining us from Venice. Thank you.

Floods have killed at least 58 people in southern Brazil. Nearly 70,000 have been forced from their homes. Tens of thousands of people have been left without drinking water or electricity. It's the worst flooding the region has seen in more than 80 years.

State of Rio Grande do Sul

Climate Crisis

'It's going to get worse': Brazil braces for flood peaks

Students at the University of California in Irvine say they will remain on campus until all their demands are met. School officials say they'll continue to negotiate with the protesters -- and are hoping to reach a deal soon.

Irvine

Israel-Gaza War

Police, protesters in stand-off at California university

The Federal Government will cut $3 billion in student debts, in measures to be announced in next week's budget. The reforms will see the student loans of three million graduates by an average of $1200 and changes to loan indexation.

Camperdown

Labor to wipe $3 billion of student debts

Mexican authorities have charged three suspects over the disappearance of Australian brothers Callum and Jake Robinson and their American friend Jack Carter Rhoad. It's believed the tourists became embroiled in a bungled robbery. Four bodies were found near the trio's abandoned campsite, but are yet to be formally identified.

Baja California

Mexican authorities lay charges over Australian brothers' disappearance

A knife-wielding teenage boy has been shot dead by police in Bunnings carpark in Willetton, Perth. The 16-year-old boy had phoned Triple Zero saying he planned ‘acts of violence’ and stabbed a male member of the public. The WA Police Commissioner says the teenager had ‘mental health and radicalisation issues’.

Willetton

Police shoot dead ‘radicalised’ teenage boy in Perth

The death toll from rains in Brazil's southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul rose to 57, local authorities said on Saturday (May 4) afternoon, while dozens still have not been accounted for.

Dozens missing amid record-breaking Brazil flooding

There are renewed hopes for a ceasefire in Gaza after a Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo to continue talks amid reports of a proposal agreed to by Israel to halt fighting for an initial 40 days in exchange for the release of hostages.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

Hopes rise for Gaza ceasefire amid Hamas talks

Students showing support for Palestinians have set up camp outside the University College London. They say they'll continue their protest until the university divests from Israeli institutions that 'profit from the war in Gaza'.

London

Pro-Palestine university protests spread to London

Dozens of Palestinians have held a demonstration in the West Bank, to condemn the killing of five Palestinian fighters. Crowds rallied hours after Israeli troops attacked the fighters in the village of Deir al Ghoson.

Jerusalem

Five Palestinian fighters killed during West Bank raid

Dozens of people in two rubber dinghies have reached the southern coast of England, the latest among thousands of asylum-seeking migrants to make the risky sea crossing from France this year.

Dover

Asylum seekers arrive in England despite Rwanda threat

A former immigration detainee has been bailed after allegedly threatening police with a knife in Melbourne. It follows the recent violent home invasion allegedly committed by another released detainee in Western Australia Pressure is mounting on Federal Immigration Minister Andrew Giles to be held to account.

Canberra

Pressure mounts on Immigration Minister after latest detainee incident

Mexican authorities have reportedly discovered a fourth body near the cliff site where Perth brothers Jake and Callum Robinson disappeared, along with their American friend Jack Carter Rhoad. The Australian family of the brothers are en route to Mexico. The bodies are yet to be formally identified.

Ensenada

Fourth body discovered in Mexico search for Australian brothers

Ukraine is eagerly waiting for Western aid as Russia racks up more victories on the battlefield. Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron on a visit to Kyiv gave Ukraine the go-ahead to use British weapons to strike directly at Russia.

Kyiv

Ukraine Invasion

U.K. allows its weapons to be used on Russian soil

Canadian police have charged three Indian men with the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year and said they were probing whether the men had ties to the Indian government.

Surrey

Canada police charge three with murder of Sikh leader

China has launched an uncrewed spacecraft on a nearly two-month mission to retrieve rocks and soil from the far side of the moon, the first country to make such an ambitious attempt.

Wenchang

China launches mission to far side of the moon

Britain's opposition Labour Party won a parliamentary seat in northern England on Friday (May 3) and control of several councils, inflicting heavy losses on the governing Conservatives to pile more pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

U.K.'s Labour claims big early win over Conservatives

Turkey has announced that it is halting trade with Israel, worth $7 billion a year, until a permanent ceasefire and humanitarian aid are secured in Gaza. Israel denounced the decision as breaking trade agreements.

Ankara

Turkey to stop trade with Israel until Gaza ceasefire

Media watchdog group Reporters Without Borders warned of declining government support for press freedom as it unveiled its annual world rankings on Friday, highlighting Argentina among the countries where the situation has deteriorated.

Paris

States doing less to support press freedom, says watchdog

Arizona's Democratic governor signed a bill overturning an 1864 law banning abortion, a month after the state's supreme court said the Civil War-era rule was valid.

Arizona

Arizona governor signs bill repealing 1864 abortion ban

U.S. President Joe Biden said that both freedom of speech and the rule of law must be respected in protests at college campuses over Israel's war in Gaza. In response to a reporter's question, Biden said that the campus protests had not forced him to reconsider his policies in the Middle East.

Washington

Biden breaks silence on protests at University Campuses

From suspensions to expulsions to criminal charges, college students across the U.S. involved in these pro-Palestinian protests could face life-changing consequences. Some are demanding amnesty for these protesters.

New York

More than 1,000 student protesters arrested across U.S.

English voters are heading to polling stations to pick mayors, councilors and a new lawmaker in the last electoral test for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak before a national vote later this year.

Voters head to polls in last test for U.K.'s Sunak

The US State Department accused Russia of having used a chemical weapon against Ukrainian forces in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, while also announcing fresh sanctions against Moscow. In addition to the chemical agent chloropicrin, Russia also used "riot control agents (tear gas) as a method of warfare in Ukraine, also in violation of the CWC," the department said in a factsheet.

Zaporizhzhia

U.S. accuses Russia of using chemical weapons in Ukraine

There are grave concerns for Perth brothers Jake and Callum Robinson who are missing on a surf trip in Mexico's Baja region. The pair have failed to arrive at their accommodation and are not responding to contact from their families.

Council of the City of Sydney

Grave fears for brothers missing on Mexico surf trip

Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers has kept open the prospect of tax incentives in the budget as business warned that changes to foreign investment laws. It comes amid criticism that budget spending could prompt further inflation and prompt rate rises.

Government hints at further tax incentives in Budget

Colombian President Gustavo Petro says his country will break diplomatic relations with Israel. He's criticised Israel's conduct since the start of the war on Gaza. Petro requested to join South Africa's case at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide.

Bogotá

Colombia ends diplomatic relations with Israel

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, pushing to get more aid into Gaza, while urging Hamas to accept a deal that would halt fighting and bring some hostages home from the enclave.

Blinken pushes for sustained aid into Gaza during Israel trip

Police in Georgia fired teargas and rubber bullets at protesters demonstrating against a bill that would require organizations – including media and NGOs – that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to register as agents "pursuing the interests of a foreign power." The bill has been dubbed the "Russian law" by its detractors.

Tbilisi

Thousands protest against Georgia's 'foreign influence' bill

A diplomatic push is underway to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, with the U.S. exerting pressure on Hamas to agree to Israel's terms. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to attack Rafah in southern Gaza, whether there's a ceasefire or not.