In the News Teaching Activity – will Venice’s access fee have its desired effect? (May 2024)

This summer the City of Venice is trialling a new access fee of 5 euros to try and prevent over-tourism. Critics argue it won’t deter day trippers from visiting and is just a way of revenue-raising that will ultimately damage the cultural reputation of the city.

It is hoped that the Venice access fee will help prevent over-tourism that puts a significant strain on beautiful Venice’s infrastructure and environment. The fee can also be used to generate revenue to support Venice’s unique cultural heritage. The fee applies on the busiest days this summer and it is hoped that some day trippers will be deterred from visiting or choose to visit on non-peak days. However, critics argue that it breaks the EU principle of freedom of movement for people and point to the problems of inconvenience the fee may cause to Venetian residents. Some anticipate that the fee will go higher in future putting future visitors off from visiting at all.

‘Recipe for disaster’: Venice entry fee sparks confusion and protest on day one | Venice | The Guardian

1 Using the statistics from the article, how much revenue is the Venice access fee likely to raise on a busy day in summer?

2 Assess whether the response to the access fee is likely to be price elastic or price inelastic by linking each key determinant of PED to the Venice access fee.

3 Using the information from the article and your own knowledge, discuss whether the access fee is likely to reduce over-tourism