Venice will limit tour group sizes and ban loudspeakers as it tries to curb mass tourism

Venice City Council has announced it will limit the size of walking tour groups and ban the use of loudspeakers in its latest attempt to tackle mass tourism in the city.

Walking tour groups of more than 25 people will not be allowed, and they will also be prohibited from stopping in narrow streets, on bridges or in passageways.

The new regulations will come into effect in Venice's historic centre, as well as the islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello, on June 1, 2024.

Security councillor Elisabetta Pesce described the development as “an important measure aimed at improving the management of groups” as well as “promoting sustainable tourism and guaranteeing the protection and safety of the city.”

The measures are the latest taken by local authorities, who have taken multiple steps to try and curb excessive tourism in the small city.

In September the council announced that day-trippers over the age of 14 will be charged to visit the city during peak times from next year.

Roughly four-fifths of all tourists come to Venice just for the day. In 2019, the last full year of tourism before the COVID-19 pandemic, about 19 million day-trippers visited Venice and provided just a fraction of the revenue of those who stayed for at least one night.

With just a few hours to spend in Venice, day-trippers tend to flock to St. Mark's Square and other tourist musts, adding to pedestrian traffic that makes walking down the city's narrow streets or over some of its bridges a slow slog.

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