European Cities Restrict Travelers

Also read: Tourism is Increasingly Recovering, Beware of Excessive Risks

"We must find a balance between newcomers and residents. We need to preserve space for residents, and of course, we need to reduce daily tourists at certain times," said Simone Venturini, Head of the Venice Tourism Promotion Board.

To address the surge of visitors, Venice has implemented a new policy starting on Thursday (25/4/2024). Venice will charge a daily admission fee to visitors. Visitors who come during the day must buy a ticket worth five euros or around IDR 87,000.

The purchase of these tickets will be monitored by inspection officers at the main entry points throughout the Venice area. Taxes are also imposed on visitors who stay overnight in the city. The hope is that daily visitors can visit at times that are not busy or not during the holiday season.

For now, there are only 29 days throughout 2024 that will be implemented as daily entry ticket times. The majority of those days are spread out from May to July.

Also read: What Comes, Goes and Nearly Leaves on the World Cultural Heritage List

Venturini stated that this policy is aimed at balancing the income from tourism to revive the economy while still ensuring the comfort of the residents. "Boosting the local economy is still important, as long as it doesn't burden the local community and damage the already fragile ecosystem," he said.

The daily ticket policy is not Venice's first attempt to limit tourists. In 2021, Venice banned large cruise ships from entering its city lagoon. This is because these large cruise ships can damage the city's environment.

In addition, daily visitors usually come by cruise ships. Due to this prohibition, cruise ships are redirecting their routes to industrial ports located further away.

An excessive number of visitors is also feared to further sink Venice. The city, spread over 100 small islands in northeast Italy, was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987. Locations visited by tourists include St. Mark's Square and Rialto Bridge.

Also read: Prioritize Evaluation of Retributions in Conservation Areas

Last year, UNESCO threatened to include Venice on the list of cultural heritages in danger. This is due to the overflow of visitors and the rise of water levels in the lagoon caused by climate change.

Because of this problem, a ticket system for tourists has been implemented. In fact, the idea of a ticket system has been debated for a long time. However, it has been repeatedly delayed for fear of reducing revenue from the tourism sector.

The problem is, tourists don't mind the price of the daily ticket. For American tourist Anish Thakkar, the ticket is cheap for visitors who come from afar. "I don't mind paying five euros for it. Because it's too cheap, I don't think it will make a difference," he said.

Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said that the new ticket policy is still just an experiment. Despite this, Brugnaro and other Venetian officials are not entirely sure how well the system will work. Brugnaro promised that this new system will continue to be monitored and controlled and guaranteed that there will be no queues.

Also read: The Magic of the Venetian “Theatre”

Queues can be anticipated or prevented if visitors purchase tickets online in advance. If not online, the tickets can also be purchased upon arrival. Ticket counters have been set up in the square in front of Santa Lucia train station. This is the main entry point to Venice.

Later on, there will also be a special team conducting sudden inspections in major areas. If someone is found without a ticket, they will be fined. The amount of the fine ranges from 50-300 euros or approximately IDR 868,000 to IDR 5.2 million.

As for overnight visitors in Venice, they are exempted from buying tickets as they have already paid an overnight tax. The same goes for visitors who arrive in Venice between 4:00 PM and 8:30 AM, children under the age of 14, and people with disabilities. For now, there is no set limit on the number of daily tickets sold.

Clean up your reputation

Meanwhile, Amsterdam has long been trying to clean up its reputation as a city of bachelor parties, drugs, and sex. The "dark" reputation is considered as one of the reasons why around 20 million visitors come every year.

Also read: For Conservation purposes, Italy Bans Cruise Ships from Entering Venice Canals

Last year, Amsterdam launched an online campaign to prevent young British people from entering Amsterdam purely to get drunk and party. Those who wanted to come to Amsterdam just to party and get drunk were urged not to enter the Netherlands. If someone still dared to do so, the risk of being arrested is high.

In order to limit visitors, Amsterdam has implemented many new policies. Since mid-April 2024, Amsterdam has banned the opening of new hotels.

The number of river cruise ships in Amsterdam will also be halved within the next five years. Last year, Amsterdam also banned smoking marijuana in the red light district streets.

Not only Venice and Amsterdam are busy with crowds of visitors. The medieval fortified city of Dubrovnik in Croatia is also one of the busiest cities in Europe. The enormous flow of tourists sometimes makes it impossible to walk inside the historic Old Town.

Also read: The Anglo-Dutch Key to Rule the World in the Middle Ages

The city known as the "Jewel of the Adriatic Sea" has experienced a surge in visitors since its fortress appeared in a scene in the series Game of Thrones in 2011. Last year, the city of 41,000 people received 1.2 million tourists. . In 2019, the number of tourists actually reached 1.4 million.

Due to the surging number of tourists, the local government has limited the number of cruise ships arriving to only two per day starting from 2019. Each ship is also limited to carrying no more than 4,000 passengers at a time.

Restrictions have also been applied in Barcelona, Spain. The city government limits tourist groups from entering the historic La Boqueria market, especially during peak shopping hours.

There are also regulations that limit tour groups to a maximum of 20 people, and their guide is not allowed to use a loudspeaker. Last year, the number of tourists who booked hotels, rented homes, and hostels decreased by 6.9 percent compared to 2019. From this figure, at least it is proven that the made rules have succeeded in reducing the number of tourists. (AFP/AP)