Venice mayor says he is brave like Marco Polo in charging day-trippers €5

The mayor of Venice has likened the “bravery” of his decision to charge day-trippers an entrance fee to the city to that of the legendary Venetian explorer Marco Polo.

Venice will become the first mayor city in the world to adopt such a measure when the long-mooted €5 (£4.30) fee comes into force later this month.

Luigi Brugnaro said the objective was not to make money for Venice’s coffers but to “defend” the lagoon city, which attracts an estimated 40,000 visitors a day, and make it more liveable.

The tickets are bookable online and apply on 29 peak dates between 25 April and 14 July. Venice authorities consider 2024 as being the experimental phase of the initiative.

“We have a duty to preserve the great historical centres of the world,” Brugnaro told reporters in Rome. “Over history, nobody has risked ever trying this … no politician would do what I am about to do. If it works, everyone will say it’s banal, and if it doesn’t work, it will create criticism and a bad impression.”

Brugnaro, an entrepreneur, said that when he thought of brave, risk-taking people, Polo, who set off from Venice in 1271 at the aged of 17 and spent more than two decades travelling through Asia, sprang to mind. “He didn’t know where he was going, there was no GPS … and he arrived in China. Then he returned to Venice with important know-how.”

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