Venice Cruises Five Years After the Big-Ship Ban: 584,284 Passengers, Three Counts and a Canal Pushed to 2028

What the 2021 decree banned, and what it left open

Article 1 of Decree-Law 103/2021 declared St. Mark's Basin, the St. Mark's Canal and the Giudecca Canal national monuments. From 1 August 2021 it barred ships from transiting them if they meet any one of four conditions. A ship is barred if it exceeds 25,000 gross tons, has a hull longer than 180 meters at the waterline, has an air draft above 35 meters, or burns fuel with 0.1% sulfur or more while maneuvering. Mixed sail-and-motor ships are exempt from the air draft limit. The decree entered into force on 21 July 2021, according to the consolidated text on Normattiva. Parliament converted it into law in September 2021.

The decree also created an extraordinary commissioner for cruises. The post is held by the president of the North Adriatic port authority, AdSP Mare Adriatico Settentrionale. The commissioner's job is to build temporary berths outside the protected waters and plan permanent ones. Fulvio Lino Di Blasio held the role from 2021. Matteo Gasparato has since succeeded him, according to Shipping Italy.

What the decree left open matters as much as what it closed. It sets no limit on the number of ships or passengers. It does not cover ships below the thresholds, so small luxury and expedition ships still pass St. Mark's on their way to Marittima and San Basilio. It does not apply to the Malamocco inlet or the industrial canals that lead to Marghera. Headlines in July 2021 said Italy had banned cruise ships from Venice. The decree's text does not support that reading, and the terminal operator scheduled 366 calls for 2026.

We found no decree or bill in 2025 or 2026 that changes the thresholds. Our searches did not cover Italian court databases in full. The planned route back for mid-size ships is dredging.

Five years of passenger counts, in three series

The port authority's traffic tables give the most consistent count. They report cruise passengers as home-port passengers, who embark or disembark in Venice, plus transit passengers, counted once. On that basis, Venice handled 229,783 cruise passengers in 2022, 507,980 in 2023, 547,587 in 2024 and 584,284 in 2025. Growth from 2023 to 2025 was 15.0% (derived). In 2025, 268,390 passengers embarked, 252,157 disembarked and 63,737 were in transit. Home-port passengers were 89.1% of the total (derived).

Chioggia, the smaller port at the southern end of the lagoon, is reported separately. It handled 52,625 cruise passengers in 2023, 49,754 in 2024 and 33,170 in 2025. Venice and Chioggia together came to 617,454 in 2025, a figure in a port authority release dated 18 January 2026 and posted on its website on 19 January.

Earlier years are thinner. Shipping Italy, citing port data in February 2022, reported 31,685 cruise passengers in 2021. We did not open the port authority's own 2021 table. For 2020, the port authority said only that cruise traffic had practically stopped. No annual figure was published that we could find.

MedCruise gives the pre-ban baseline. Its 2019 statistics report Venice at 1,611,341 cruise passengers, up 3.25% on 1,560,579 in 2018. The 2019 figure splits into 695,093 embarkations, 695,060 disembarkations and 221,188 transit passengers, on 500 cruise calls. The structure matches the port authority's tables. The publisher does not, so we show both and do not compute a percentage fall. Press coverage since 2021, including lavoce.info and Il Post, has given about 1.6 million for 2019 without naming a source. That rounding is consistent with MedCruise.

The terminal operator, Venezia Terminal Passeggeri (VTP), publishes a third set of numbers at each season launch. It reported 497,000 passengers for 2023, as reported by Shipping Italy in February 2024. In March 2025 it gave 634,000 passengers on 492 calls for 2024. In March 2026 it forecast 543,000 ocean and river cruise passengers for 2026 and gave a wider total, including hydrofoils, of 592,000 for 2026 and 664,000 for 2025.

Why 2024, 2025 and 2026 each carry more than one number

The 2024 conflict is the largest. The port authority counted 547,587 cruise passengers in Venice. VTP's March 2025 presentation, as printed by Shipping Italy and Quality Travel, gave 634,000. The gap is 86,413 (derived). Adding Chioggia does not close it. The two ports together come to 597,341 (derived). VTP did not define its scope in the coverage we read. In 2023 its figure was lower than the port authority's, so it is not simply a wider count.

The 2026 forecast has an unstated base. VTP said 543,000 passengers would be 12% fewer than in 2025. Dividing 543,000 by 0.88 gives about 617,000 (derived). That is within 0.1% of the port authority's Venice and Chioggia total of 617,454. Against Venice alone, 543,000 would be a fall of 7.1% (derived). The match suggests VTP used a base close to the two-port total. VTP did not say so, and this is our inference.

Forecasts have run ahead of outcomes. In March 2025, VTP forecast up to 644,000 passengers for 2025. The port authority's count for Venice was 584,284. The two figures come from different series, so the gap is not a clean measure of forecast error. Di Blasio said in March 2025 that the aim was to bring 1 million cruise passengers back to Venice and Chioggia once the commissioner's works were complete in 2027. That was a target. Those works are now dated 2028.

Call counts are the least comparable numbers in the set. MedCruise gives 500 cruise calls for 2019. VTP gave 492 calls for 2024 and planned 514 for 2025, then described 2026's 366 calls as unchanged on 2025. The definitions differ across releases, and none of them can be set against the port authority's all-ship call row. This article does not state a trend in cruise calls.

Where the large ships went

The first post-ban season was improvised. In late August 2021, Shipping Italy reported a schedule that sent about 18 ships to Marittima, 10 to Fusina and one to a container quay, with a length limit at Fusina of 200 to 220 meters. The commissioner then fitted out two industrial quays at Marghera, Banchina Liguria and Banchina Lombardia, for cruise use. VTP built a terminal at Fusina for about EUR 5 million, operating since late August 2024.

In 2026, VTP lists six places where cruise ships dock in the lagoon: Marghera's Liguria and Lombardia quays, Fusina, San Basilio, Marittima and Chioggia. Only ships below the decree's thresholds reach Marittima and San Basilio, because those berths are reached through the Giudecca Canal. Larger ships enter the lagoon at Malamocco and follow the industrial channel to Marghera, which the decree does not cover.

The 2026 fleet leans toward smaller and more expensive ships. VTP said 30 lines would call in 2026, up from 27, with 55 ships, up from 52, including eight calling for the first time. A note reported by Shipping Italy on 17 April 2026 said premium and luxury calls had already risen 10% in 2026, without giving a baseline, and that 40% of high-end calls in 2026 would include stays of two days or more. More than 95% of traffic will be home-ported, meaning passengers start or end their cruise in Venice.

Other Adriatic ports have grown since 2019. Trieste handled 476,641 cruise passengers on 140 calls in 2023, against 177,000 cited for 2019, as reported by AdriaPorts in February 2024. Ravenna counted 248,015 in 2025, as reported from Risposte Turismo data by Il Resto del Carlino. We did not find 2025 or 2026 actuals for Trieste or Monfalcone. No source we found measures how many passengers moved from Venice to each port because of the ban. Lines also changed itineraries for other reasons after the pandemic, and the published figures do not separate them.

The Marghera terminal and the Vittorio Emanuele III canal: approvals in 2026, dates in 2028

Two projects are meant to replace the temporary arrangement. The first is a permanent cruise terminal on the north bank of Marghera's Canale Nord. Shipping Italy reported in July 2025 that it would have two berths with a combined length of about 770 meters. Each could take ships up to 300 meters long, 100,000 gross tons and 3,700 passengers. The site covers about 105,000 square meters, about 40,000 of them parking. Construction is set at 30 months from the award of the contract, so the terminal would not be ready before mid-2028. Its cost appeared only in an image in that coverage, and we did not find it stated in text.

The second is a deeper Vittorio Emanuele III canal, which links the Malamocco-Marghera channel to Marittima without passing St. Mark's. Shipping Italy reported on 5 November 2026 that the environment ministry had issued a positive environmental assessment for about 1.1 million cubic meters of dredging. Stage 1 would deepen the canal to 8 meters, cost EUR 32.7 million and is funded. It would let ships up to 230 meters and 50,000 tons reach Marittima. Works could run from July 2027 to June 2028. Stage 2 would deepen it to 9 meters for ships up to 265 meters and 74,000 tons, at EUR 14.5 million, which is not funded. It is scheduled for October 2029 to February 2030.

The approval came with conditions. The project studies assumed 120 ship calls a year. The assessment commission asked for effects to be modeled at 560 calls a year, or 1,120 passages. Ships can be slowed to 5 knots if monitoring thresholds are exceeded. Monitoring of the canal bed must run for at least ten years. The ruling carries eight conditions of its own plus those set by the Veneto Region and the Ministry of Culture.

The September decision was a different step. On 27 September 2026, Shipping Italy reported that the ministry's environmental assessment commission had given a favorable opinion on the Canale Nord berths and terminal, the Vittorio Emanuele III dredging and the restoration of the Malamocco-Marghera channel. That package includes about 100 hectares of new salt marsh and mudflats. Baird Maritime noted that the opinion does not authorize construction. By 5 November, the canal had its final ruling, while the Marghera terminal and the Malamocco-Marghera dredging still awaited theirs.

The dates have slipped before. In September 2023, Shipping Italy reported a plan to bring ships up to 50,000 gross tons back to Marittima from early 2027. In April 2025, the deputy commissioner still expected a 2027 reopening. The commissioner's own website, in an entry dated July 2025, listed completion of all works in 2027. The November 2026 coverage says the 2027 schedule will likely be revised.

Opponents dispute the plan itself. The Comitato No Grandi Navi said on 18 October 2026, as reported by ANSA, that new excavations risk worsening erosion in the lagoon. It put the total investment at EUR 375 million. That is the campaign's own estimate, and we found no official total to compare it with. Environmental groups quoted by Shipping Italy in September said the new layout would still bring large ships into the lagoon through Malamocco.

What UNESCO asked for

UNESCO had pressed Italy for years to keep large ships away from St. Mark's. In April 2021, it welcomed the government's decision as a very positive step. The World Heritage Committee did not place Venice on its List of World Heritage in Danger in 2021 or in 2023, as reported at the time.

Its 2025 decision on Venice and its Lagoon, 47 COM 7B.113, goes further than the ban. The Committee welcomed the continued ban on large ships from St. Mark's Basin and the Giudecca Canal. It asked Italy to carry out a Strategic Environmental Assessment before port-system and waterway projects start, to make sure they do not raise tourism pressure. It asked Italy to consider prioritizing the option of redirecting large ships to other, more suitable ports in the region. The decision does not name Marghera.

That puts UNESCO's preferred option and Italy's plan in different places. Italy's plan keeps large ships inside the lagoon, at Marghera. UNESCO asked Italy to consider sending them elsewhere. The Committee also warned that the property could meet the criteria for the Danger List and set 1 February 2026 for a state of conservation report and corrective measures. We did not find that report or a 2026 Committee decision on Venice.

What the emissions evidence shows

The best-known figure comes from Transport & Environment, a European campaign group. Its June 2023 report, The return of the cruise, found that Venice was Europe's most polluted cruise port for sulfur oxides in 2019 and fell to 41st in 2022. It reported an 80% fall in sulfur oxide emissions from cruise ships and attributed it to the ban on cruise ships above 25,000 gross tons from 2021.

The report's method limits what the figure can show. T&E modeled emissions from ship position data using the method of the Fourth IMO Greenhouse Gas Study, counting ships within 12 nautical miles of a port at speeds under 3 knots. It did not measure air quality. It noted that some cruise ships were still unused in early 2022 because of the pandemic. Venice's port authority counted 229,783 cruise passengers in 2022, while MedCruise's 2019 figure was 1,611,341. The report does not separate the effect of the ban from the effect of lower volumes.

The regional environment agency, ARPAV, gives a different view of the same port. Its inventory for 2019, published in September 2022, estimated 377.7 tonnes of sulfur dioxide from all ships in the port of Venice. Cruise ships accounted for 19.0 tonnes, or 5.0% (derived). They accounted for 496.7 of 2,749.7 tonnes of nitrogen oxides (18.1%, derived) and 21.8 of 148.0 tonnes of particulates (14.7%, derived). ARPAV notes that cruise ships already burned fuel with 0.1% sulfur while maneuvering under the voluntary Venice Blue Flag agreement.

The two sources use different methods, boundaries and pollutant definitions, and they cannot be reconciled. T&E ranks cruise ships against other cruise ports. ARPAV ranks them against other ships in Venice. We found no ARPAV inventory after 2019 and no published before-and-after measure of cruise emissions or air quality attributable to the ban.

What nobody measures

Crowding is the least measured part of the story. No source we found counts how many cruise passengers go ashore in Venice, how long they stay or what they spend, before or after 2021.

The closest proxies are indirect. Transit passengers, whose ship calls without starting or ending a cruise in Venice, are the group most likely to make a day visit. The port authority counted 63,737 in 2025. MedCruise counted 221,188 in 2019. An often-quoted figure of 220,000 cruise day-trippers in 2019 is consistent with the MedCruise transit count of 221,188, though the outlet that published it named no source. Home-port passengers may spend a night in the city before or after their cruise, and no source counts how many do.

Spending figures are older still. Estimates of cruise spending in Venice range from EUR 145 per passenger to EUR 283.6 million a year in total, all from studies of 2013 to 2019. We found no study after the ban. Our analysis of Venice's resident and visitor numbers found that no official count of day-trippers exists, so cruise passengers cannot be set against total day visitors. Venice's access fee results count fee payments on set days and do not identify cruise passengers.

What this means for travelers, businesses and analysts

Travelers booking a cruise from Venice should check which berth their ship uses. A large ship will dock at Marghera or Fusina, on the mainland side of the lagoon, and will not pass St. Mark's. A small ship may still use Marittima or San Basilio and sail along the Giudecca Canal. More than 95% of Venice cruise traffic starts or ends there, so most cruise passengers will need a transfer between the city and a berth outside the historic center. Our Venice travel guide covers getting around the city. Day visitors on set dates may also owe the access fee.

Tourism businesses and investors should read Venice's cruise traffic as a smaller, mostly home-port business, with VTP reporting more premium and luxury calls in 2026. The port authority counted 584,284 passengers in 2025, and VTP expects fewer in 2026. The infrastructure that would bring mid-size ships back to Marittima is approved for stage 1 and funded, but scheduled for June 2028. The Marghera terminal still needs its final ruling and will not open before mid-2028. Plans that assumed 2027 should be redated, and a target of 1 million passengers should be read as a target.

Journalists and analysts should name the series for every Venice figure and avoid computing a percentage fall from MedCruise's 2019 count to the port authority's 2025 count. T&E's 80% fall in cruise sulfur oxides is the group's modeled finding, and the comparison year was still a recovery year. This is another article in our series where rules, approvals and totals are published and local effects are not. Nobody publishes how many cruise passengers go ashore in Venice or what they spend. For how other 2026 forecasts are holding up, see our 2026 record watch.