Venice City Culture Director Venturini recently announced that from January 16, 2023, tourists arriving or leaving Venice city center and islands on the same day will be levied an entry fee. Tourists who do not stay in the city of Venice Depending on the hotel reservation, you will pay a city entry fee of 3 to 10 euros (approximately RMB 21 to 70 yuan). Violators will be fined from 50 to 300 euros.
Actually, the fact that Venice is charging tourists an "entry fee" is not "news". As early as 2019, when I was an international news editor, I compiled and published this news. However, due to the epidemic, "entering the city" "Fees" eventually came to nothing. We have already done this before. In January 2004, Chongqing raised the annual road and bridge tolls by 15%. The annual road and bridge tolls for Class II, III, IV and V vehicles rose to 2,300 yuan and 2,990 yuan respectively. yuan, 3450 yuan and 3910 yuan, and continues until December 31, 2017.
Venice city councilor Simone Venturini said the measure was to protect Venice. This city is not suitable for "fast food" tourism. Overtourism has brought tourists that have overwhelmed the infrastructure of the city that arose in the Middle Ages. At the same time, the city of Venice will set restrictions on residential properties used for short-term rentals to encourage long-term rentals, improve the living environment in the historic city, and protect historical and cultural heritage.
In the post-epidemic era, the world is trying every means to win over tourists. Thailand has canceled epidemic prevention restrictions such as the Thailand Pass Entry System and the mask order from July 1 to attract more tourists to enter the country. In addition to Thailand, many countries including Switzerland and Greece have relaxed or lifted epidemic control to boost the already weak tourism industry.
Venice went in the opposite direction and introduced restrictive measures to enter the city before tourists from all over the world flocked to the city. This may seem "silly" to some groups. After all, most corners of the world are eager to stimulate consumption. , for the sake of political achievements and GDP, they tried their best to artificially create various places for "Internet celebrities" to check in. In fact, "entrance fee" is not a new term. In our Jianghu novels, "toll" is almost always mentioned. The form is highly similar, but the motivation is very different. The gangster roared, "I built this mountain and planted this tree. I want to pass by here and leave money to buy the road. I said no through my teeth, and I didn't care about burying each one with a knife."
Different from stimulating consumption for quick success and instant gain, Venice, which was included in the World Cultural Heritage List in 1987, chose to give up short-term interests and choose to protect cultural heritage, which set an example for many countries on the Pacific West Coast. History will prove the reasons why Venice became Venice, and I hope vested interest groups can gain some inspiration from it.
statement: This article was first published in Toutiao's self-media "Another News". Unauthorized secondary editing and publication are strictly prohibited.
