VENICE, Italy -- We reached Venice on day 7 of my 10-day tour of Italy with Perillo Tours.
It happened to be exactly seven days since Venice debuted a 29-day trial of an entrance fee for day-trippers.
Venice said that it would deploy more than 150 workers around the city to help day-trippers pay the fee online, help people determine whether they were exempt from payment and provide general information to the public about the fee.
They weren't kidding. When I arrived at Venezia Santa Lucia train station, there were tons of workers in orange and yellow reflective vests scattered in front of the station engaging people as they exited the terminal.
Some of the workers greeted travelers and then asked if they had already paid the fee. If they hadn't paid it yet, workers were showing them what to do on the website.
Municipal workers greeted travelers and asked if they had already paid the entrance fee for day-trippers. Photo Credit: Nicole Edenedo
I noticed three large pillars in front of the station in blue, orange and green.
The orange pillar had information for tourists, letting them know about the entrance fee that would be in effect on select days and providing a QR code that would lead them to the website to make a purchase.
The green pillar addressed residents, students, workers and other exempt groups who did not have to pay the entrance fee. For those who are exempt from paying, they were directed to a booth where they could show identification to avoid payment.
The blue pillar served as an exit marker to leave the city but also provided information about the access fee, along with listing the dates that the fee would be in effect.
I didn't know what to expect upon arrival. I thought I might see a few workers here and there doing random checks. But this was a much larger, coordinated effort -- appropriate given the scrutiny Venice has been under regarding overtourism, especially from UNESCO, which last year said that the city hadn't been doing enough to protect the city from overtourism.
There were no turnstiles to enter the city. Other than the workers in distinctive vests lining the exit of the train station, there were no physical barriers or tap-and-go kiosks. The workers were the first line of defense, followed by the informational booths and pillars.
Once our group got off the train, we headed straight for the water taxis taking us to St. Mark's Square. As our tour director led us, a Venetian worker tried stopping a few of us to ask if we had paid the entrance fee. Once he saw there were several of us together, he asked if we were part of a group. That's when our tour director, Irene, spoke up and vouched for all of us, saying that we were all part of one group, and he let us go.
An information booth outside of the Venezia Santa Lucia train station to assist travelers on how they can pay the entrance fee. Photo Credit: Nicole Edenedo
According to the website, the city of Venice says that tour operators and travel agencies have the option of appointing a tour leader to purchase access to the city for the entire group and receive a single QR code covering all members in the group. This option is called the collective, nonpersonal payment voucher and can be issued for groups with as few as 10 people and as many as 60.
I didn't see any more workers or booths once we left the train station at the northern end of the city. But the city says there are additional access points where workers are stationed to assist day-trippers, including the Piazzale Roma and the San Zaccaria vaporetto stop, which lets you off near St. Mark's Square.
By the time we got back to the train station at the end of our daylong trip to Venice, around 5:45 p.m., the workers had gone, the crowds had largely dispersed, and the booths were shuttered for the day.