"The World Heritage Committee – the governing body of the World Heritage Convention composed of 21 Member States representing the 195 States Parties to the Convention – today took the decision not to inscribe Venice and its lagoon on the List of World Heritage in Danger," said UNESCO, headquartered in Paris. in a statement.

"This decision takes into account the progress achieved in recent days by UNESCO, including the establishment from 2024 of a visitor flow management system," a diplomat told AFP.

While his case was being discussed by UNESCO, the city of Venice has indeed very opportunely decided Tuesday to introduce on a trial basis from 2024 a tax of five euros that will have to pay tourists spending only one day in the City of the Doges.

The main objective of this measure is to deter these day visitors who contribute to congestion in a city famous around the world for its works of art, bridges and canals.

The Rialto Bridge and tourists on a gondola over the Grand Canal, in Venice, July 31, 2023 © ANDREA PATTARO / AFP/Archives

In 2024, this tax payable online will only concern a maximum of thirty days during which the number of tourists is traditionally higher.

As soon as UNESCO announced that Venice had escaped the infamous classification, Italian Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiulano was quick to hail "a victory for Italy and common sense".

However, Venice is not definitively out of the woods: "The Committee reiterated its concerns about the significant challenges that remain for the proper conservation of the site, particularly related to mass tourism, development projects and climate change. It believes that further progress needs to be made."

The Committee further requested Italy "to invite an advisory mission from the World Heritage Centre (...) and to submit a report by 1 February 2024, for the state of conservation of the site to be re-examined at the 46th session of the Committee in summer 2024".

At the end of July, however, UNESCO recommended the classification "in danger" of Venice, a jewel threatened by too much tourism and global warming, because of "insufficient" measures taken in Italy to fight against the deterioration of this site.

Venice, city in danger, according to UNESCO © Cléa PÉCULIER, Sabrina BLANCHARD / AFP

Venice has been postponing for years the taking of drastic measures, including the implementation of a mandatory reservation and the quota of the number of entries to stem the surge of millions of tourists in the saturated historic center.

UNESCO experts had considered that "the further development (of Venice), the impacts of climate change and mass tourism" threatened to "cause irreversible changes to the Outstanding Universal Value of the property".

Venice, an island city founded in the fifth century and became a great maritime power in the tenth century, extends over 118 islets.

Gondolas on the Grand Canal in Venice, September 3, 2023 © GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP/Archives

This exceptional site was integrated into the World Heritage List by UNESCO in 1987.

The Serenissima is one of the most visited cities in the world.

At peak attendance, 100,000 tourists sleep there, in addition to tens of thousands of day visitors.

Compare this to the 50,000 inhabitants of the city centre, which continues to depopulate.

© 2023 AFP