Lake Como is glitzy, glamorous and engulfed by tourism.

The third largest lake in Italy, it sees as many as 1.4 million visitors a year descend on its shores.

The tourist numbers are proving overwhelming for the holiday hotspot in northern Italy, and one city is now considering introducing a tourist tax.

Mayor of the lakeside city of Como Alessandro Rapinese says he is mulling a Venice-style daily charge with suggestions that it could come into force soon.

Lake Como to introduce a daytripper fee

Rapinese has lambasted Lake Como’s overtourism saying it is “difficult to be mayor when you are fighting tourism”.

“We are already discussing the idea[ofa[ofatourist tax]. Revolutions begin with concrete measures and we are ready for this long journey,” he told UK newspaper The Times.

The fee would apply to daily visitors to the city of Como.

The mayor has not shared any further details about how much the fee will be, who will have to pay and when it will come into force.

If he uses the Venice model, the charge will apply to daytrippers (not those who have booked overnight accommodation in the city) and may be levied only on busy days like weekends and public holidays.

Lake Como battles overtourism

The chic lake has been struggling with soaring tourist numbers in recent years.

Crowds have boomed since several celebrities including George Clooney purchased multi-million euro properties along the shoreline and the lake provided a backdrop for films including Casino Royale and House of Gucci.

“I visited Lake Como last year and said I would never go back. Standards had dropped. Restaurants were disappointing in quality and price. Too many people to enjoy anything about the resort,” one visitor wrote on X.

Last summer, one lakeside villa which appeared in James Bond and Star Wars films was forced to limit visitor numbers.

Villa del Balbianello cut daily entries from 2,000 to a maximum of 1,200 to protect the historic house.

The Italian Fund for the Environment (FAI), which runs the property, called it “a drastic decision” but essential to counter the effect of “an excess of tourism that has an ever greater impact on Lake Como”.

Türkiye has become the latest country to launch a digital nomad visa for foreign remote workers.

The Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry has created a dedicated website where those interested can complete the first application stages.

The country hopes to lure digital nomads to destinations including Istanbul, Dalaman on the southwestern coast and Izmir on the west.

“Thousand years old ancient cities, unique bays hidden between forests, turquoise seas, dynamic people, big cities; Türkiye has all,” the visa promotion reads.

“In addition, this beautiful country is one of the biggest countries of the world in terms of economy and business, with strong infrastructure services.”

Who is eligible for Türkiye’s digital nomad visa?

Those interested in Türkiye’s digital nomad visa need to be aged between 21 and 55. Applicants are accepted from most EU countries as well as the UK, USA and Canada.

Additional prerequisites include holding a university degree, having an employment or business contract and being able to prove a monthly income of $3,000 (€2,800) or an annual one of $36,000 (€33,800).

Applicants can register and upload their documents – including a passport with six-month validity and a photo – on the dedicated Digital Nomad GoTürkiye website.

If the application is accepted, you will be issued a Digital Nomad Identification Certificate which you can then take to a Turkish visa centre or consulate in your place of residence.

The best locations for digital nomads in Türkiye

The digital nomad website also promotes destinations around the country as prime spots for remote workers.

Istanbul is “a business centre with large companies and small start-ups, a metropole of 20 million inhabitants, a meeting point of different cultures [and] a historical centre where the paths of millennia-old civilisations converge.”

Digital nomads will find a strong transportation infrastructure with several metro and bus lines, and ferry journeys between its European and Asian sides, according to the website. It also says it is easy to find fully furnished apartments to rent.

Dalaman, on the Aegean coast, “offers great transportation options, an easy escape from the crowds, an impressive variety of free-time activities, and a strong infrastructure for those who want to work from this paradise on Earth.”

Izmir, also on the Aegean Sea, is ideal for those seeking year-round warmth and Blue Flag beaches.

Could human waste power the future of air travel? Wizz Air hopes so.

The Hungarian airline says it’s reached a deal with a British company to work on producing sustainable jet fuel made from human waste.

The biofuel company, Firefly Green Fuels, has developed a process which will convert waste from sewers into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

The company says it hopes to begin supplying the lower carbon power source from around 2028 and has come to an agreement with Wizz Air’s UK-based wing to provide up to 525,000 tonnes of SAF over a 15 year period.

How will human waste be transformed into sustainable aviation fuel?

Ahead of the fuel going into production, British company Anglian Water has agreed to provide biosolids – a product of its wastewater treatment process – to Firefly.

Using those byproducts, scientists will be able to develop the SAF.

Its production uses around 70 per cent less carbon than conventional jet fuel.

Although it won’t mean an end to traditional fuels used in planes, SAF can be used in a maximum blend of 50 per cent with kerosene – without the need for any modifications to jet engines.

Cost is an issue, however, with SAF being significantly more expensive to produce than conventional jet fuel at present.

Experts behind the human waste-based process are hopeful that the benefits will justify the costs.

While Firefly chief executive James Hygate admits in a statement that biosolids are “kind of disgusting stuff”, he says they are “an amazing resource”.

“We’re turning sewage into jet fuel. I can’t really think of many things that are cooler than that,” he told press.

What would the use of SAF mean for the aviation industry?

Paul Hilditch, the Firefly’s chief operating officer, says SAF could help the aviation industry slash its carbon emissions.

“There’s enough biosolids in the UK for more than 200,000 tonnes of SAF. That’s enough to satisfy about half of the mandated SAF demand in 2030,” says Hilditch. “We’re not the only answer – we need the other routes to SAF – but this new route to SAF has the potential to move the needle, it has the potential to be a significant contribution to UK SAF supply.”

Hilditch is also hopeful for the future of SAF, explaining it’s not just the UK that can use it: “Anywhere in the world where there are people, there’s poo.”

Firefly is confident that it will work out and is in the process of obtaining official, regulatory approval for its system to be used to fuel aircraft in the near future.

Wizz Air hopes it will be able to power at least 10 per cent of its flights with SAF by 2030, something that will likely please the British government.

Under its own SAF mandate, at least 10 per cent of all fuel used by UK airlines must be made from sustainable feedstocks by 2030.