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First came Venice\u2019s \u20ac5 charge on day-trippers who enter the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now, the Italian city will cap the size of tourist groups and ban the use of loudspeakers by tour guides to maintain Venice\u2019s sanctity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The new measures will take effect on Aug. 1 with the aim of \u201cprotecting the peace of residents\u201d and making Venice\u2019s paths more pedestrian-friendly. They will apply to Venice\u2019s main city center as well as the islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello, and could result in fines between \u20ac25-500 if breached, Reuters reported<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The loudspeaker ban and crowd control were meant to kick in in June, just weeks after Venice became the first city to charge an entrance fee for visitors, dubbed the \u201ctourist tax.\u201d The goal? To rein in those making day trips to the city during peak travel season.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s still too early to gauge the pilot program\u2019s success, although estimates suggest the local government has already raised $2.6 million<\/a> from more than 485,000 tourists.\u00a0<\/p>\n Venetians have criticized it, saying it\u2019s turning the city into a \u201ctheme park<\/a>.\u201d Others felt that a small sum wouldn\u2019t do anything to deter overtourism and would be complicated<\/a> to enforce.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tourism has real ramifications in the lagoon city, as it\u2019s on UNESCO\u2019s list of endangered destinations.\u00a0<\/p>\n UNESCO highlighted<\/a> the environmental damage from motorboats and cruise ships approaching the city and the impact of tourism on Venice\u2019s historic buildings, as they get flipped for commercial use, as key risks facing the city.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Roughly 20 million people visited Venice in 2023\u2014that\u2019s 400 times the city\u2019s population of just under 50,000<\/a>. As one of the most visited cities in Europe, Venice has somewhat drowned in a sea of tourists. But putting a lid on those numbers won\u2019t be easy. As more people leave the city, it has come to rely on tourism to drive the economy<\/span>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Venice has become the symbol of the overtourism trend that several other European cities grapple with. The city has risked degrading the quality of life and services for the locals as they battled with a limited housing supply and essential services due to a higher inflow of visitors.<\/p>\n Amsterdam is looking to ban cruise ships<\/a>\u2014a measure Venice adopted in 2021\u2014as they push to keep \u201cnuisance\u201d tourists away. Meanwhile, Barcelona announced that it would stop short-term rentals<\/a> to free-up housing for its residents.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s a delicate balance between preserving some of Europe\u2019s most frequented cities without turning tourists away completely. Whether Venice is successful in achieving that remains to be seen.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\nRecommended Newsletter:<\/strong> The Fortune Next to Lead newsletter is a must-read for the next generation of C-suite leaders. Every Monday, the newsletter provides the strategies, resources, and expert insight needed to claim the most coveted positions in business. Subscribe now. Sign up for free<\/a>.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n