Venice bans loudspeakers and limits tour groups in latest crackdown on mass tourism

Venice has introduced new rules to tackle mass tourism, with loudspeakers now banned and tour groups limited to just 25 people.

The Italian canal city, which hosts about 25 million people a year, announced the measures in December in an attempt to address mass tourism.

Effective Saturday, the new rules say tour groups are limited to 25 people in Venice, as well as the islands of Burano, Murano and Torcello.

Loudspeakers were also banned because they “create confusion and disturbance”.

Elisabetta Pesce, the city’s security official, said last year that the latest rules “are aimed at improving the management of organized groups in the historic centre”.

It marks the latest crackdown on mass tourism for Venice. In April, the city launched a €5 (£4) charge for day trips throughout the summer in an attempt to thin out the crowds.

Simone Venturini, Venice’s top tourism official, said at the time: “We need to find a new balance between tourists and residents.

“We need to protect residents’ spaces, of course, and we need to discourage day trippers from arriving on certain days.”

However, some residents protested the move, saying more attention should be paid to the growing local population and the services they need.

alien passed a milestone last year when the number of tourist beds for the first time exceeded the number of official residents, who now number less than 50,000 in the historic center.

In August, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recommended Venice to be added to its list of World Heritage Sites in Danger on the growing concerns of overcrowding and unsustainability.

The agency said the steps proposed by the Italian state to address the problems were “currently insufficient and insufficiently detailed”.

Venice avoided being blacklisted in 2021 like Italy banned cruise ships to enter its lagoon to defend its ecosystem.

UNESCO members cited the then-planned day trip fee as a reason to keep it off the endangered list.