visitor fee for florence/venice etc
 

we got into a debate over this at a bbq last night

apart from the complications of administering this, it doesnt appear to me as being *fundamentally* wrong to charge vistors.

i am not sure how others would feel by being charged where locals would get in free.

and i thought i would get your folks opinions on this. thx

I know in Costa Rica the cit. get into all national parks, museums, beaches etc. for free. I think this is fine...

In Ocean City MD, the locals get into the bars for free also. Its a bonus of living there I got to enjoy while in college....wish they had the same thing in NY where we live!

The thinking is that the residents pay taxes in that locale and are therefor paying the fee already.

Whereas, the visitor is paying as they use it.

In my area, as a local I get free or reduced price to places and visitors pay a higher rate.

When you think that 60,000 Venetians have to pay the taxes to remove the garbae left by 14,000,000 tourists a year, it certainly seems fair to charge visitors a fee.

P.S. Particularly for day visitors, who make up a whopping 80% of all visitors and who spend almost nothing in the city and drop their Coke cans and paper pizza plates wherever they like.

Seems very fair to me that tourists should have to chip in a bit for wear and tear on a place. Why should locals have to shoulder the burden alone?

Every time you pay a hotel tax or a rental car tax you are paying a visitor fee, don't you think? And, yes, I think it is fair.