Recently in the news it has been discussed that Venice is considering introducing a tourist tax. Venice is considering charging it 20-million-a-year visitors that are without hotel reservations an ecopass to cross the waters into Venice.
I am sure that some people may bark at the idea of yet another fee to pay during their holiday, but I think the tourist tax is a good idea. Venice is sinking. If something is not done, experts predict that Venice could become a modern day Atlantis and be below sea levels within 100 or so years. With 20 million visitors a year a 5 or 10 euro fee could bring in a lot of cash flow to improve the city and slow and/or stop it from sinking. That’s 10,000,000€ to 20,000,000€ a year towards improvements.
Will introducing the tourist tax deter visitors? No I don’t think so. Venice is a unique city that has a lot to offer. Visitors already accept the other fees beautiful Venice charges them from making them buy off of tourist menus, “sitting fees” at restaurants near the Grand Canal, and tourist price at attractions. What an extra few more euros?
Perhaps my love for Venice (if you are new to Travels Along The Way, you may want to look through the site to grasp my love), but I still come even if they were charging a 100€ a day.
What do you think? Is the Tourist Tax a good idea?
Travel Along The Way 
The Vice-Mayor of Venice, Sandro Simionato, this week advocated the rapid introduction of a tax on tourists to Venice. The tourist tax, which is likely to be known as the ‘Venice ticket’, would initially be added to hotel bills. “The ticket will arrive as soon as possible and will bring the city €24 million a year,” explained Simionato in the newspaper La Nuova di Venezia e Mestre on 20 March 2011 (Ticket, è muro contro muro). ‘As soon as possible’ is likely to mean next summer.
At the national assembly of the Italian hotel federation Federalberghi on 19 March 2011, hotel owners voiced their opposition to new tourist taxes, such as the Venice ticket. “From Eolie to Belluno we are all against the ticket and there are no cracks,” declared Vittorio Bonacini, the President of the Venice Hoteliers Association (AVA).
Rome introduced tourist taxes on 1 January 2011. Visitors to the city now pay tourist taxes when staying in various types of accommodation; €3 per night for a four or five star hotel, €2 per night for up to 3 star hotels and even €1 per night for a campsite. In addition, non-residents of Rome now pay a supplementary €1 for museum entry in Rome. These taxes apply to Italians as well as foreign tourists and business visitors, although children are exempt.
Many cities in Italy and elsewhere are considering similar taxes on tourists, although the details of the planned Venice ticket are currently unclear.
Tourist taxes are undemocratic because a flat rate discriminates against poorer visitors. Moreover, the initial amounts can be increased once the principle of tourist taxes is established. John Kay, a British economist, advised that Venice should charge tourists €50 (US$70.68) for admission to the city. As explained in the forthcoming book ‘Venice in Environmental Peril? Myth and Reality’ by Dominic Standish (UPA, September 2011), tourist taxes stigmatise tourists as a problem for cities like Venice. The book examines how revenue for the city can be boosted by improving tourism without the need for tourist taxes.
Other cities considering tourist taxes should reject them and explore different ways of generating funds from tourism.