Venice's Large Group Tour Ban to Start August 1
Skift Take
Key Points
- Venice will limit group tours to 25 people and ban loudspeakers starting August 1.
- The restrictions aim to reduce overcrowding, noise pollution, and enhance pedestrian mobility.
- These measures follow the city's successful implementation of an entry fee system and other tourism management strategies.
Summary
Starting August 1, Venice will enforce new restrictions on group tours, limiting them to 25 people and banning the use of loudspeakers by guides. These measures aim to reduce overcrowding, noise pollution, and promote pedestrian mobility. The restrictions were delayed from June 1 to allow businesses more time to adapt. This initiative follows the city's recent implementation of an entry fee system for day trippers, which has already generated substantial revenue. Venice is also taking additional steps to manage mass tourism, including capping new hotels, constructing a cruise ship terminal outside the city center, and planning new regulations on short-term rentals.
Starting Thursday in Venice, group tours won't be able to exceed 25 people and guides will be banned from using loudspeakers on the streets.
Group tours will also not be allowed to park their vehicle on bridges, according to the municipal government. The restrictions aim to deter overcrowding, reduce noise pollution and promote pedestrian mobility.
“We want to keep the group smaller because we want to make the quality of a visit higher and a big group can cause stress to the city,” deputy mayor and city councilor Simone Venturini told Skift in a June interview. “We just banned the loudspeaker because we are not a theme park.”
The restrictions had originally been scheduled to start on June 1 but were delayed to give businesses more time to adapt.
The large group tour and loudspeaker ban comes in the wake of Venice’s completion of its entry fee system for day trippers. The system was implemented for a total of 29 days between April 25 and July 14.
Over 485,000 day trippers paid the fee, and city collected 2.4 million euros ($2.6 million) in revenue. The city plans to expand it across more days and increase the fee from 5 euros to potentially 10 euros.
Over the past few years, Venice has been trying to reduce mass tourism. The city put a cap on new hotels in the city center and is building a terminal for cruise ships outside the city center. In September, it is going to introduce new restrictions on short-term rentals.
In 2023, Venice and its surrounding region had over 13 million tourists, according to the Italian government.
Up Next
How Travel Brands Can Seize the ‘Q5’ Opportunity on TikTok
Canada Updates U.S. Travel Advisory, Warns of Device Searches of Travelers
Stripping Business Class Bare: The Rise and Risks of No-Frills Premium Travel
SCOOP: Airbnb Co-Founder Joe Gebbia Is Stepping Down From Airbnb.org
