Rome’s city council said Wednesday it was considering charging for entry to the iconic Trevi Fountain, which is visited by millions of people each year, a measure still under consideration aimed at combating overtourism affecting the Eternal City.
Alessandro Onorato, deputy mayor of Rome for tourism, is considering imposing specific times for visitors to enter the square where the Baroque masterpiece stands.
“I would be in favour of examining a new type of access, limited in time and with a fixed number (of visitors), with a reservation system,” he told the daily Corriere della Sera, comments confirmed by his press service.
The ticket would be free for Romans and would cost one euro for tourists.
The idea is not to make money but to control the crowd and, in particular, by filtering the entrances, to prevent tourists from eating ice cream or pizza on the steps, according to the daily.
The Trevi Fountain, built in the 18th century, served as the setting for the most famous scene in Federico Fellini’s film “La Dolce Vita”, when the actress Anita Ekberg bathes in it, which is strictly forbidden.
A municipal spokesman told AFP that the idea of tickets was just an “initial idea, there is nothing concrete yet”.
“It is a delicate and difficult issue, but sooner or later it will have to be addressed. Tourism in Rome, which is recording record numbers, must be made sustainable for the city and the environment,” he added.
Tourist numbers are expected to explode during the Jubilee, a holy year celebrated by the Catholic Church every 25 years or so, with some 30 million people expected to visit Rome and the Vatican in 2025.
This year, Venice has experimented with a system of paying day tickets for visitors during peak periods, in an attempt to better manage visitor flows.
Giorgia Meloni’s government is also considering a significant increase in the tourist tax, but this idea has angered tourism federations, who fear that excessive increases could dampen tourist interest.
Mr Onorato added that Rome would also like to limit the opening of new bed and breakfasts or holiday homes in order to protect the historic centre, but the municipality does not have that power.
“Today we can limit the number of restaurants or fast food restaurants in the historic centre, but we cannot prevent the opening of non-hotel accommodation structures,” he said.
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