Evaluating Tourists’ Willingness to Pay for an Entrance Fee to Cultural Heritage Cities: The Case Study of Venice

Overtourism in cultural heritage cities like Venice puts pressure on ecosystems and local economies, raising concerns about regulation. One proposed solution is a direct entry tax, but its effectiveness and public acceptance remain uncertain. This study examines the willingness of tourists to pay (WTP) for a daily entrance fee (EF) to Venice using a hybrid approach that combines dichotomous choice (DC) and open-ended (OE) methods, with demand functions estimated through logit and tobit regressions. The findings reveal a low acceptance rate (26%), with an unexpectedly high rejection rate at €5, possibly due to anchoring or strategic bias. The mean WTP is €13, while the revenue-maximising EF is €20. The WTP distribution is left-skewed, with greater demand elasticity between €10 and €15. Strong evidence suggests that WTP is higher among older visitors, those with higher incomes, women, and vacationers, while weaker results indicate lower WTP among domestic and daily visitors. Discrepancies between the elicitation methods raise concerns about the reliability of the WTP estimates. Future research should explore how prior exposure to an EF influences WTP, the role of trip context in stated valuations, and whether the DC format biases OE responses in contingent valuation studies.