The European Tour Operators Association (ETOA) has written to the Italian government in protest against an increase in charges, from January this year, to bring coaches into popular cities such as Florence, Venice and Pisa.

Many city centres across Italy now have a zone of traffic limitation (ZTL), which was originally brought in to reduce congestion and pollution; however, is viewed by the ETOA as a money-making scheme as the cost of parking coaches close to the city centres has also increased dramatically since its introduction.

Also a point of contention is the fact that popular tourist sites are sometimes located over a mile from ZTL coach parking facilities, which shows lack of consideration by the local authorities to people with mobility problems.

One of the main complaints, however, is that the cost of taking a tour by coach has increased significantly, particularly for itineraries that visit multiple cities, each with its own ZTL charge.

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