Florence, Rome, Venice: Italian cities are cracking down on overtourism in 2025

Vacationers have lengthy been enamoured with Italy, however the feeling appears more and more unreciprocated.

With its enviable number of historic cities, unspoiled villages, slopes and vibrant sea cities, Italy retains guests wanting extra. 

However like different Southern European nations, all of this flattering demand is coming at a value to locals, notably within the area of reasonably priced housing.

Final 12 months noticed a spread of latest measures drafted in to guard ‘la dolce vita’ for residents. Right here’s what Italophiles want to concentrate on in 2025.

It’s important to meet Airbnb house owners in particular person

Key containers are a nifty means for travellers to let themselves into Airbnb and different vacation flats. However in Italy, they’ve turn into an emblem of the unwelcome means during which such short-term leases are taking up neighbourhoods. 

In protest, campaigners in widespread cities like Florence, Rome and Milan have been sabotaging the containers or daubing them with a purple cross. 

In November, the federal government signed off on a measure to ban the tech, citing security issues. 

“The automated administration of check-in and entry to a property with out visible identification of friends” means there’s a threat it “may very well be occupied by a number of people whose identities stay unknown to the related police authorities, posing a possible hazard to the neighborhood,” in response to an announcement from the inside ministry. 

Rental house owners or managers now want to satisfy friends to verify id paperwork in particular person and deal with check-in procedures face-to-face. 

Venice visits come at a better value

Venice is an epicentre of overtourism, with customer numbers overwhelming the capability of the lagoon-locked metropolis. Placing a good worth on entry has been a heated subject for years. 

Individuals staying in a single day within the historic centre must pay a vacationer tax in direction of its maintenance. In 2024, a day-tripper tax of €5 was introduced in.

This 12 months, officers are extending the variety of days on which it applies: now each Friday by way of Sunday and on holidays from 18 April to 27 July, for a complete of 54 days.

The levy can even be doubled to €10 for last-minute arrivals – counted as vacationers who make reservations lower than 4 days upfront.

The fee programme goals to cut back crowds on peak days, encourage longer visits, and enhance the standard of life for residents.

Vacationer taxes may rise in different Italian cities

Venice isn’t the one place that seeks to sort out overtourism with taxes. Italian municipalities set their very own charges, so that they fluctuate relying on the place you go.

In Rome, the in a single day price ranges from €3 to €7, relying on the kind of lodging you select. In Milan, it is between €2 and €5, and in Florence from €1 to €5.

However on the nationwide stage, plans are afoot for a brand new vacationer tax of as much as €25 per evening for the most costly resort rooms. 

The federal government mentioned it was contemplating the transfer to make vacationers “extra accountable” and assist financially deprived areas fund providers like bin collections. 

Entry to widespread Italian websites is proscribed

Regardless of the range of Italy’s pure and cultural sights, just a few historic websites at all times high the vacationer rankings.

Rome’s Colosseum and the stays of Pompeii are the nation’s two most-visited sights. In recent times, each historic websites nd have needed to introduce customer caps to deal with that demand. 

The previous capped customer numbers to three,000 at anyone time in 2019. Following a report excessive of 36,000 folks a day in October, Pompeii went the identical means, with a day by day customer cap of 20,000 in place as of mid-November 2024. 

One other point of interest in Rome – the wonderful Trevi Fountain – can also be on the centre of an overtourism storm.

The Italian capital is contemplating a ticketing system to skinny out crowds across the 18th-century fountain.

Rome sees on common 35 million guests every year – and that quantity is about to be increased nonetheless in 2025 because the Jubilee, a year-long non secular occasion, is about to draw thousands and thousands extra.