Tourists arriving in Venice by train, plane and cruise ship（游艇，游轮） are to be charged an entrance tax under plans being drawn up by the Italian government.
More than 20 million people visit Venice every year but many of them are day-trippers who bring their own food and drink and choose not to stay the night, depriving（丧失，剥夺） the lagoon（泻湖，咸水湖） city of desperately-needed revenue to restore its crumbling canal-side palaces, churches and monuments.
The idea of an entrance tariff（关税） has proved highly controversial in the past, with critics saying it would reinforce the concept of Venice as a kind of historical and cultural theme park.
But the government has now drawn up a draft plan which would allow Venetian authorities to extract a one-off tariff from visitors who fly into Marco Polo airport, arrive by train or disembark（登陆，上岸） from the growing number of cruise liners which access the city from the Adriatic.
The cost of the tax is still being discussed. It is unlikely to be very high – the city's last mayor, Massimo Cacciari, who stepped down earlier this year, had suggested imposing a one euro levy（征税） on all cruise ship passengers.
The draft plan has been drawn up by Renato Brunetta, the minister for public administration and innovation, who is himself Venetian, and has been welcomed by Venice's mayor, Giorgio Orsoni.作者: davy10 时间: 2010-10-24 04:19
