Issue #949

by Paul Taylor

A romantic stroll along the historic and beautiful narrow alleyways of Venice. That’ll be NZ$10 please.

Last week, the Italian city became the first in the world to introduce direct charges for day-trippers entering its city centre, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Visitors must pay the €5 charge via a QR code system, or at a booth. Stewards were at Venezia Santa Lucia train station and other locations to check they’d coughed up. The charge applies only to day-trippers, including Italians, from 8.30am-4pm. Anyone staying overnight is exempt but still needs a QR code to prove it. Fines for non-payment are €50-€300.

The move was met with protests from hundreds of locals (who clashed with riot police!). They believe it will make Venice feel like a theme park, goes against the principle of free movement, and will do little to reduce tourism. There are 500,000 residents, and about 30 million visitors per year, many arriving by cruise ships which damage the fragile, sinking, City of Canals.

And you thought we had problems. As solutions to over-tourism go, or more specifically infrastructure funding, this chaotic Italian one could be implemented pretty easily here. Stick a booth on SH6 in Kingston, another in Kawarau Gorge, one on the Crown Range, and one at the airport. Hey presto! But it’s a bit, I don’t know, in your face. And, if QLDC tried to charge domestic visitors directly like this, we might need the riot police too.

Queenstown’s mayor Glyn Lewers is on our Outlet Queenstown Podcast this week, talking some sense on a bed tax. Lewers says there are movements within the tourism industry to put the levy back before Central Government, despite the resistance from PM Christopher Luxon and Act leader David Seymour. Seymour favours a GST sharing scheme, with councils given a share of a revenue generated from new residential builds. But the mayor believes once the Treasury sees the “rather large number” that would give councils, it will tweak it to death.

The alternative to both is, of course, back to a 5% accommodation-based levy, which could be levied on Airbnb properties too. That would work out better for accommodation providers than QLDC “turning the dial” on their rates differential, as it’s percentage based, rather than fixed. The estimates are it could raise $20 million a year, massively helping QLDC’s finances and hopefully thereby reducing rates. And on a $250 per night room, that’s $12.50, the price of a beer. I don’t think tourists coming here are that price sensitive. Let’s start banging the drum as loudly as possible and just get it done.