Venice (Italy) encourages slow travel

 Venice (Italy) encourages slow travel

Italian authorities announced on January 7 that they will limit the number of tourists to Venice in an effort to reduce tourist overload in the "City of Canals".

The Venetian government will limit the number of visitors to reduce tourist overload (Artwork: Reuters)

The previous data showed that every day about 100,000 tourists visit this city. But for the next few weeks, tourists will not be able to freely visit Venice.

In 2022, to visit this city, visitors will have to book a tour ticket costing 5 euros in advance online. The admission ticket is only valid for one day to limit the number of visitors to Venice.

Simone Venturini, Vice Mayor of Venice in charge of tourism, said: "The aim is to discourage one-day tourism, "rush" tourism, which comes in one day and leaves in the same day, causing fatigue and stress. for the city, we encourage slower travel instead.”

Along with selling entrance tickets, the city government of Venice also erected gates at the main entrances of historic centres. Authorities also installed about 500 cameras to control the number of visitors, continuously broadcasting images from the streets to search for lost tourists.

Police will also be able to establish people's identities in real time thanks to data from mobile phones.

Maria Teresa Maniero, Deputy Commander of the Venice Police Department, revealed: “If I enter the data in an aggregated anonymous form, we can know exactly who these people are: 977 foreigners, 800 Italians, 135 residents and 139 people working”.

However, the system is also set up to allow local residents to move freely.