The Comune di Venezia reported on 29 July that its 2026 access-fee trial, closed on 26 July after 60 chargeable days, raised €5,215,035 from 679,553 paid vouchers1. It put the daily voucher average 32.3% below 2024, measured against 2024 rather than 2025, and allocated €1.771m of net proceeds to cutting TARI.
The access fee charges day visitors to enter the historic centre on designated days. TARI, the tassa sui rifiuti, is the annual refuse charge Venetian residents pay, so part of the money comes back to the people who live with the crowds. The 2025 trial raised €5.42m from 720,000 paid vouchers.
Revenue therefore held close to level year on year, while the city's own daily average ran a third below 2024. Venice took slightly less money in 2026 from roughly 40,000 fewer payers. The city cautions that different calendars, weather and provisional data prevent a straight year-on-year comparison, and that caution is doing real work here.
A paid voucher counts a payment, not a person. For a reader asking whether the fee thins the crowds, the city has answered first: the number measures the instrument, and it does not yet measure the crowd. Exempt visitors and those who simply never buy a voucher sit outside every figure in the release.
