Simona Pra, an Italian tourist visiting the beautiful and floating city of Venice from Tuscany, faced an unexpected experience at the Florian café. When she paid her bill, she noticed that an additional 7 euros had been added for background music. This extra charge brought her total expenses to 72 euros.
A look at the bill
Pra shared a photo of her bill on her Facebook page, writing: "This is the cost of music!" Her bill included the cost of two croissants for 31 euros and two Aperol Spritz drinks for 34 euros. The addition of 7 euros for "music charge" made this bill a hot topic of conversation among tourists.
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An unusual but funny experience
Simona explained in an interview with an Italian newspaper: "In the café, a small orchestra of three musicians was playing music that added a fresh spirit to the customers' conversations. We knew that sitting in this famous café in St. Mark's Square would be costly, but when I saw this charge on the bill, I must admit I laughed."
This type of extra charge in restaurants and cafés in Venice, one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, is not so unusual. Additionally, the city of Venice also collects a special tax from tourists as a "tourist tax" that travelers must pay to their hotels for each night of stay. Local authorities justify this measure as a way to control mass tourism.
Challenges of tourism in Venice
Every year, Venice attracts between 20 to 30 million tourists, with about 21 million of them visiting the city for just one day. The increasing number of visitors has put pressure on the sensitive infrastructure of this historic city, and local discontent has reached a peak.
To manage overtourism, the city of Venice introduced a daily fee of 5 euros for day-trippers in April 2024, targeting busier days. In 2025, this tax remained in place, but the entry fee for those who had not booked four days prior to their trip increased to 10 euros, and the implementation period was extended to 54 days.
Global solutions for managing tourism
Venice is just one of the global tourist destinations that have introduced taxes to manage the high number of visitors and increase revenue for these areas. These fees can vary from a few euros per night in Rome to a percentage of the room rate in Amsterdam. For example, Manchester introduced a city visit fee in 2023, and Edinburgh is set to implement the same measure starting in July.
Tourists looking to enjoy the vibrant nightlife, beautiful architecture, and rich culture of Amsterdam must pay an additional 12.5 percent on their hotel room rate. This tax is called "toeristenbelasting," which is one of the highest visitor tax rates in Europe.
