Pilgrims to Pay Entry Fee for Pope Francis' Visit to Venice Art Biennale

Pilgrims arriving in Venice on April 28th for Pope Francis' visit to the Art Biennale will be required to pay a mandatory entrance fee of 5 euros. The City of Venice and the lagoon authorities have established that the new regulation on tourist flows - which will come into effect on April 25th - does not provide for any exemptions or ad hoc modifications. Consequently, an article from Il Gazzettino has informed that this event will not be an exception. "We have examined the case," reflects Michele Zuin, the Budget Councilor, "coming to the conclusion that the Pope's arrival will be a very important moment for the city, but we cannot make differences between one event and another, since there are multiple events in Venice. We also considered that many pilgrims will come from the diocese and that most will be residents of the Municipality." Therefore, they will be exempt from both the payment of the contribution and the reservation, which will instead apply to non-Venetians. The platform set up by Venice for the entrance tax continues to record numbers related to payments and exemptions linked to the total 29 days of experimentation. The aim of the experiment is to discourage "hit and run" tourism on certain days of the year when visitor numbers are high, namely, for 2024, from April 25th to 30th, from May 1st to 5th, then every remaining weekend (Saturday and Sunday) until July 13-14th, excluding the Republic Day weekend (June 1-2nd). The access contribution will be mandatory from 8:30 am to 4 pm.