Seemingly every tourist in Rome knows the key to returning to the Eternal City is to toss a coin into the Trevi Fountain and make a wish. The result: Hoards of visitors packing the Baroque monument any given day, taking selfies and betting on a return trip.
Officials are now considering a plan to manage tourism to one of Rome鈥檚 most-visited sites: A two-euro (US$2.25) ticket to access an open-air fountain that has always been free of charge.
The proposal by city鈥檚 top tourism official, Alessandro Onorato, comes after the Italian lagoon city of Venice tested a controversial 5-euro daytripper access fee to the city this summer. It must be deliberated by the City Council before it takes effect, but the city鈥檚 mayor, Roberto Gualtieri, has already voiced support.
鈥淭wo euros is more or less the same amount that people toss into the fountain to make a wish,鈥欌 Onorato told The Associated Press Friday.
Cities across the globe are grappling with how to manage the ever-growing number of tourists, who fuel the economy but can create inconveniences to residents by converging on the same top sites.
鈥淲e have to avoid, especially in a fragile art city like Rome, that too many tourists damage the tourist experience, and damage the city,鈥欌 Onorato said. 鈥淲e need to safeguard two things, that tourists don鈥檛 experience chaos and that citizens can continue to live in the center.鈥
Onorato said he hopes to test the entrance fee, which would be managed through a reservation system and a QR code, in time for the 2025 Jubilee Holy Year, and have the system operational by spring.
Passersby in the piazza overlooking the fountain will not have to pay. The fee would be charged only to those entering the nine stone steps leading up to the fountain's edge. It would be free to Romans.
Onorato said the system would also help discourage people from eating on the steps overlooking the fountain and feeding pigeons or, worse, from reenacting Anita Ekberg鈥檚 plunge into the fountain in Fellini鈥檚 鈥淟a Dolce Vita,鈥 a frequently repeated offense that carries a fine.
鈥淚t would happen less, or maybe it wouldn鈥檛 happen at all, because whoever would enter, we would know their names and where they live. It becomes more complicated,鈥欌 he said.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has refused to get the security clearance necessary to be briefed on a list of people in his party involved in, or vulnerable to, foreign interference, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told a federal commission of inquiry Wednesday.
Researchers say billions of litres of discarded Canadian milk has a massive financial, environmental and nutritional impact.
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A Russian man rescued after 67 days adrift in a small inflatable boat in the Sea of Okhotsk described Wednesday how he survived by battling shivering cold and drinking rain water.
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is testifying today, for the second time, as part of the federal inquiry into foreign interference.
The Department of National Defence confirms unexploded bombs from the Second World War lie buried inside the Mer Bleue Bog, a popular hiking and skiing area in Ottawa鈥檚 east end.
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Indians in Punjab, worried that plans to work, study or visit families in Canada will be jeopardized by this week's tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats over the murder of a Sikh separatist, are urging both governments to reduce the tension.
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Israeli airstrikes pounded areas across Lebanon, killing at least 21 people, officials said Wednesday, including more than a dozen in a southern town where Israeli bombardments in previous conflicts are seared into local memory.
Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump says that if he does not win the Nov. 5 election, he will cry fraud and not accept the results -- just as he did four years ago when he lost to Democratic President Joe Biden.
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A Russian man rescued after 67 days adrift in a small inflatable boat in the Sea of Okhotsk described Wednesday how he survived by battling shivering cold and drinking rain water.
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Former U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday refused to say whether he's spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin since leaving office, but if the two did speak Trump said, it would be 'a smart thing' for the United States.
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A Winnipeg high school student placed second in an international neuroscience contest where she competed against nearly 3,000 other students from 40 countries in Chicago, Ill.
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Hong Kong's oldest zoo is seeking answers in a monkey medical mystery after nine animals died in two days, including three members of a critically endangered species.
Lawyers for Sean 鈥楧iddy鈥 Combs asked a New York judge Tuesday to force prosecutors to disclose the names of his accusers in his sex trafficking case.
Rock guitarist Jake E. Lee, who鈥檚 played with heavy metal heavyweight Ozzy Osbourne, was hospitalized early Tuesday morning after he was shot 鈥渕ultiple times鈥 in Las Vegas, a representative for the musician told CNN in a statement.
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A retired Innisfil woman was in shock for a week after becoming a millionaire with the lottery.
Environment Canada has issued a frost advisory for Windsor and Essex County.
Chatham-Kent police were cracking down on drivers over the Thanksgiving weekend.
Neighbourhood safety plans are launching for several Windsor communities.
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Leaders of the B.C. NDP and the B.C. Conservatives will be on Vancouver Island today for campaign events on the last day of advanced voting before British Columbia's provincial election on Saturday.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is testifying today, for the second time, as part of the federal inquiry into foreign interference.
Dave Lindsey began growing giant pumpkins to bring a bit of magic to his grandkids' Halloween.
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Nearly two years after a man was stabbed to death in downtown Kelowna, RCMP have made an arrest in the case.
Health-care advocates say the province's plan for a new primary care agency, operating separately from Alberta Health Services, won't help with doctor shortages in Lethbridge.
The Vancouver Giants scored late to force overtime before winning 4-3 over the Lethbridge Hurricanes Friday night.
If you鈥檙e looking for something to do this long weekend, the Lethbridge Corn Maze is open and hosting its annual fundraiser on Monday.
Some of the world鈥檚 best curlers have arrived in Sault Ste. Marie for the second annual Soo Fall Classic that many curlers say has become a can鈥檛 miss event.
A resident got a scare early in the morning Wednesday in Elliot Lake when an unknown man entered their home carrying a knife.
Glen Morningstar of Blind River won the Ontario 49 top prize of $2 million in the Sept. 7 draw.
A five-hour drive from St. John's, N.L., and well off the beaten path, Point Leamington seems an unlikely spot for a one-of-a-kind tourist attraction.
A Conservative MP from Newfoundland and Labrador says some small towns in his rural riding are overrun with crime, but police say they haven't received reports to that effect.
As millions in federal funding flow into a Labrador group whose claims of Inuit identity have been rejected by Indigenous organizations across Canada, a national Inuit leader worries the Liberal government is putting the rights of Indigenous Peoples at risk.
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