by Hiking trails along one of Italy’s most picturesque stretches of coast will be created this week in an attempt to deal with congestion, with Venice becoming the first city in the world to introduce an entry fee for tourists.
Walkers in the Cinque Terre (literally ‘Five Lands’) region of Liguria in north-west Italy will not be allowed to set out in one direction along the narrow paths that connect the five former fishing villages.
The settlements are overlooked by steep tiered cliffs that have been carved out over centuries to provide small strips of flat land on which vines, olives and fruit trees grow.
The measure has been introduced as Italy prepares for a large number of tourists over a long weekend that revolves around April 25, celebrated as Independence Day, when the country was freed from Fascist rule and Nazi occupation.
Millions of Italians will be on holiday, adding to the expected influx of foreign tourists, many of whom have the Cinque Terre on their bucket lists.
Tourists were charged €15
Hikers who want to tackle the “sentiero azzurro” or the celebrated blue path of the Cinque Terre will have to start in the village of Monterosso and head east towards the small town of Vernazza.
The walk the other way will not be allowed. There will be checkpoints manned by police and national park officers.
“Attention, mandatory one way on the path from Monterosso to Vernazza,” reads a notice on the Cinque Terre National Park website.
The restrictions apply on 25, 26, 27 and 28 April as well as 1 May.
Tourists will also have to pay €15 to go on the tour.
“We are trying to manage the influx of people on the trails to protect the environment of the area and also the safety of visitors,” said Donatella Bianchi, head of the national park authority.
Tourists were often “disappointed” by the crowds they encountered on the paths connecting the villages, she said.
Venice entrance fee
The restrictions come as Venice prepares to introduce an entry fee for tourists.
The city will charge an entry fee for the first time on Thursday (April 25), and the scheme will continue until May 5. It will then be in place every weekend until mid-July, for a total of 29 days this year.
The €5 fee will be charged to tourists who want to come to the lagoon city just for the day. Visitors who stay in a hotel for at least one night will be exempt on the basis that they are contributing more to the local economy.
“The measures will concern people who do not spend the night in a hotel,” said Silvia Donaggio, head of the local branch of the Association of Authorized Tourist Guides.
Venetian officials will carry out on-the-spot checks to ensure people have paid the fee and download a QR code to their mobile phones.
“We are the way for the rest of the world,” said Simone Venturini, Venice’s councilor responsible for tourism, recently.
He said that the “contribution to access”, as the Venetian authorities are calling it, was an experiment aimed at reducing touristic lands and preserving the social fabric of everyday life in Venice.
Proceeds from the scheme will help pay for the maintenance and cleaning of the city, he said.
A question of over-tourism elsewhere
Italy has struggled for years to manage over-tourism. Florence has clamped down on the number of Airbnb properties amid concerns that the historic city center is losing too many locals.
In the upmarket Portofino, not far from the Cinque Terre coast, the mayor introduced a local law that prevents tourists from staying too long in the cobbled part of town.
He said the regulation was needed to stop “anarchic chaos” as selfie-taking visitors flooded the streets and made life difficult for locals trying to go about their business. Anyone caught loitering for too long risks being fined 275 euros.
Bernabò Bocca, head of the national association of hotel owners, said that a distinction should be made between tourists who stay in places for a few days and day tourists who come and go without contributing much to the economy.
“There is a risk that the term ‘overtourism’ will demonize the tourism sector. People are confusing tourists, who stay for a few days, with visitors who arrive in the morning and leave in the evening,” Mr. Bocca, president of the Federalberghi association, told Corriere della Sera newspaper.
“There has been a completely uncontrolled increase in the amount of accommodation available due to the increase in short-term rentals. Tourism brings benefits to the economy, but it needs to be controlled.”
He favors the €5 entry fee for Venice.
“We don’t think it’s a bad idea at all. Day tourists are visiting an open-air museum (when they come to Venice) and there should be no such thing as a free museum,” he said.
But he questioned how the authorities will be able to ensure that people will pay the fee. “It’s not going to be easy – you can’t put up barriers at the entrance to cities.”
