Venice earns USD 2.64m from tourism tax

Dhaka: The 29-day EUR 5 reservation entrance fee and reservation experiment, beginning April 25 and running on selected days until July 14, brought in EUR 2,425,310 (around USD 2.64 million) to Venice, said its Mayor Luigi Brugnaro.

Venice officials are hailing the temporary entrance fee to the city a huge success. The experiment was aimed at controlling the number of people who come to visit. The city initially expected to collect around EUR 700,000 (about USD 762,163) when the plan was introduced, said the Mayor in April.

A total of 3,618,114 individuals made reservations, of whom 1,398,084 were exempted from payment because they stayed in hotels. Other exemptions included 651,254 workers who travelled to the city on days the fee was in place, as well as 466,819 students and 217,589 residents who were not required to pay the entrance fee.

Furthermore, 78,224 people were exempted because they were related to residents, and 107,146 were exempted for “other” reasons including being born in the city, religious activities such as the papal visit, and those participating in cultural events, as per reports.

“The experiment worked and we can move forward. A more in-depth analysis of the data collected in the autumn,” Brugnaro said at a press conference.