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Venice entry fee in 2024: all you need to know

In spring 2024 , the City of Venice takes a step forward to combat overtourism and move towards a more sustainable and responsible tourism . From 25 April , in fact, there will be a fee for tourist to enter Venice for a trial period that will last until July, in order to support local tourism and preserve the authenticity of the city and its inhabitants by limiting entry on the "black sticker" days of the year.

Here is all the information you need to organise your trip in the best possible way.

How much does the ticket cost and how to pay

Admission to Venice from 25 April will cost €5 per person per day. The fee is the same for everyone and there are currently no reductions. Each ticket is nominal and valid for the entire day , so if you leave the city centre to re-enter during the day you will not need a new ticket, but you will not need to buy one if you enter the city between 4pm and 8.30am.

To purchase the ticket simply go to the official website of the Municipality of Venice and follow the instructions. Once you have made the payment you will be issued with a voucher with a QR-code to take with you and show in case of controls at one of the eight access points.

Venice oentry fee: who has to pay

The dates on which you will have to purchase your ticket

For this trial period, Venice entry fee is limited only to "black-sticker" days , when the overcrowding is greatest.

Here are the days on which you need to purchase an entrance ticket:

- From April 25th to May 5th .

- The remaining weekends of May , namely 11/12, 18/19, 25/26 May.

- All the weekends in June, except the first one , and therefore: 8/9, 15/16, 22/23, 29/30 June.

- The first two weekends of July , i.e. 6/7, 13/14.

This solution implemented by the municipality of Venice is aimed at preserving the heritage and uniqueness of this city , containing daily tourism and making it more sustainable. Moreover, this measure is also intended to give residents some breathing space, allowing them to enjoy their city.

In these "black-sticker" days, the entrance ticket will make the streets and monuments more enjoyable for everyone, but the smartest way to visit Venice remains the Venice Pass , which allows you to skip the queue at the most important attractions and take advantage of discounts and concessions.

Let us all commit to safeguarding Venice's heritage!

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Starting in spring 2024, Venice will introduce a booking system and an access fee for day trippers : visitors not staying in accommodation in Venice overnight (and residing outside the Veneto region) will have to book online and pay a fee of €5 during the peak tourism periods of the year  (those sleeping in accommodation in Venice already pay a tourist tax).

The fee will apply on 29 days , starting from April 25 to May 5 and also during weekends in May and June -  excluding the Festa della Repubblica weekend (1-2 June) - as well as the first two weekends of July. The day-tripper fee will only apply during peak hours from 8:30am to 4pm .

This fee, a first-of-its-kind experiment, aims at managing visitor influx more effectively and preserving the city's unique heritage, discouraging 'hit-and-run' tourism .

On the website of the City of Venice there are FAQs on the Access Fee that explain everything you need to know before arriving in Venice.

ph. @murnudinvenice via Instagram

VENICE ACCESS FEE

For the year 2024 the amount is  5.00 € a day , not subject to reductions.

The entry fee will NOT be applied to the smaller islands , including Venice Lido (including Alberoni and Malamocco), Pellestrina, Murano, Burano, Torcello, Sant'Erasmo, Mazzorbo, Mazzorbetto, Vignole, Sant'Andrea, La Certosa, San Servolo, San Clemente, Poveglia.

It is NOT due by those transiting Piazzale Roma, Tronchetto or the Maritime Station, without accessing the Old City.

ph. Matthias Süeßen CC BY-SA 4.0 Wikimedia Commons

WHO HAS TO PAY TO ENTER VENICE?

All  visitors over the age of 14,  who do not stay overnight  on the dates on which the fee will be applicable, and do not reside in the Veneto region,  will have to book their visit and pay the  €5 fee  in advance. 

To manage the entry process, visitors   will need to register on the online platform  http://cda.ve.it  that will be launched  on January 16 .

Upon booking, visitors will receive a QR code that  certifies the payment of the fee (or the exclusion/exemption condition). I n order to prove that you have booked and paid for entry - as well as that you are exempt from payment - simply show the  QR-code  to officials at Venice's main access points.

ph. @frankpicc via Instagram

EXCLUSIONS AND EXEMPTIONS

Persons born in the Municipality of Venice, residents of the Municipality of Venice, minors under the age of 14 years are not required to pay the Access Fee. In case of a check, it will only be necessary to show an ID.   Holders of the European Disability Card (Disability Card) and their companion are not required to pay the Access Fee. In case of check, it will only be necessary to show the Disability Card.

Personnel belonging to the Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Forces (including Fire Brigade personnel) are not required to pay the Access Fee. In case of check they can show the relevant service card.

They are not required to pay the Access Fee but must apply for exemption on the portal https://cda.ve.it, workers (employees or self-employed), even commuters, students of any grade and order of schools and universities that are based in the Ancient City or the Minor Islands, subjects and members of the families of those who have paid the IMU in the Municipality of Venice; residents in the Veneto Region, those in need of care, who participate in sports competitions, the spouse, the partner, relatives or relatives related up to the 3rd degree of residents in the areas where the Access Contribution is valid, and an additional set of exemptions provided for in the Regulation .

ph. Vladimir Korolkov CC BY-SA 4.0 Wikimedia Commons

The Municipal Administration may carry out checks, inspections and site visits through authorized personnel, in the main points of access to the City .

Fine from 50 euros to 300 euros (+10 euros of the entry fee), with the possibility of reporting under the Italian Criminal Code and special laws on the subject to anyone who makes false declarations, and falsification of documents in the cases provided for by the Regulation.

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Venice launches its experimental entry fee today. Here's what visitors need to know

Apr 25, 2024 • 5 min read

A tourist shows a card with the days the Venice Access Fee is implemented highlighted in red © Christoph Sator/picture alliance/Getty Images

Today marks a big change for Venice as it officially rolls out an entry fee for day trippers. This long-anticipated measure aims to ease the heavy toll of overtourism that the UNESCO-listed city has struggled with for years.

Alongside cities like Barcelona and Amsterdam, Venice has become synonymous with the challenges of overtourism. With a staggering 30 million visitors in 2019,  many of whom stayed for just one day , Venice is desperate to protect its fragile infrastructure and historic charm with the new so-called Venice Access Fee. 

Local officials, including Mayor Luigi Brugnaro, have championed the fee as a "first-of-its-kind" experiment intended to make Venice more livable. However, not everyone's on board. The policy has sparked controversy, with protests from local committees and activists throughout the city on Thursday. Matteo Secchi from the residents group Venessia.com  argues that this fee might turn Venice into a "theme park," stripping away its authenticity and offering little real benefit to the locals.

Speaking to the Guardian today, Secchi said: “You can’t impose an entrance fee to a city; all they’re doing is transforming it into a theme park. This is a bad image for Venice." 

UNESCO has previously expressed serious concerns about irreversible damage and ongoing deterioration in Venice due to human activities, climate change, and mass tourism. The organization has criticized Italy for not making significant progress in addressing these complex issues.

The entry fee is part of Venice's broader strategy to manage tourist numbers and protect its heritage more effectively. Here’s what you need to know about this new tourist fee and other initiatives the city is implementing to control its visitor numbers.

What is the Venice Access Fee in 2024?

It costs €5 and must be paid by day trippers over 14 years old. 

The fee is known as the Venice Access Fee, and according to Simone Venturini , the local councilor responsible for tourism, around 10,000 tickets had been sold by the time the scheme began at 8:30 am on Thursday.

On what days do I have to pay the Venice Access Fee?

Day trippers will need to pay an entry fee on 29 peak days in 2024. This is during the first peak tourism period of 2024 (April 25 to May 5), each weekend in May and June, plus the first two weekends of July.

The Venice Access Fee will only apply during peak hours from 8:30am to 4pm. Those arriving later for dinner or a concert won't have to pay.

One of Venice's most iconic landmarks opens to visitors for the first time in 500 years

Who has to pay to enter Venice?

All day-trippers over the age of 14 must pay the fee. Those staying overnight in Venice accommodation will not have to pay but will still need to register to visit Venice via a new online booking platform .

Residents of Venice and the wider Veneto region (and their relatives) will not have to pay an entry fee. People with disabilities, students enrolled to study in the city, and those visiting the city for the day for health reasons or a sporting event or concert are also exempt.

How do I pay the Venice Access Fee?

Day trippers can pay the fee through the  online booking platform . Upon booking, visitors will receive a QR code that they can then scan at electric turnstiles located at Venice's main access points, including the main train station, to gain access to the city. Officials say they will also check people's QR codes at random.

Authorities say this new system will allow them to understand better how many people will be coming and going and prepare accordingly. They hope to apply more resources in areas like waste management and traffic control on busy days.

Venice's other measures to manage overtourism

The entrance fee is another cog in an ambitious and heavily monitored system that tracks the comings and goings of people in Venice. In 2022, the council installed a network of cameras, sensors, and mobile phone data in the city to keep track of visitor numbers and information.

This tracking system aims to identify areas where crowds gather and temporarily restrict access until the congestion eases, diverting people elsewhere to avoid blocking pedestrian traffic. Officials say the tracking system gives them a clearer picture of the number of people passing through and allows them to predict when specific areas will get busy. They insist it's done with “absolute respect for privacy.”

Furthermore, in response to UNESCO's warnings about the damage caused by cruise ships, Venice officially banned such ships from the historic city center last April. Instead, large ships are now redirected to alternative ports like Fusina and Lombardia, alleviating the pressure on Venice's infrastructure.   

Is Venice restricting tourists?

No, the Venice City Council has previously said that they won't limit the number of visitors. Instead, they plan to raise the entry fee on days when visitor numbers reach a certain threshold. However, they have never revealed any details of what that threshold number is.

Are there any rules in Venice?

Yes. Venice has implemented various rules designed to maintain its cleanliness and heritage. These are enforced by the Venice City Council Municipal Police. Violators face penalties ranging from a €25 to €500 fine or, in some cases, a ban from the city. These rules include the following:

- Do not consume food or drink on St Mark's Square, unless at a bar or restaurant.

- Always walk on the right.

- Do not stop on any bridges.

- Bicycles are banned (even if pushed by hand).

- Only book tours with qualified tourist guides .

- Never buy goods from illegal vendors.

- Picnics are only allowed in public gardens on this map .

- Do not walk around in swimwear.

- Swimming and divining are both banned.

- Do not litter or do graffiti.

- Love locks (and all other types of padlocks) are prohibited.

- Do not feed the pigeons.

This article was first published July 2020 and updated April 2024

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Watch CBS News

Venice becomes first city in the world to charge day trippers a tourist fee to enter

By Megan Cerullo

Edited By Aimee Picchi

Updated on: April 26, 2024 / 10:37 AM EDT / CBS News

On Thursday, Venice, Italy became the first city in the world to charge day tourists a fee  just to visit its historic canals and other attractions on peak days. 

The measure is designed to counter over-tourism and mitigate the deleterious impact large crowds can have on some of the city's fragile sites, while also persuading some tourists to visit during less busy times of the year.  

The roughly $5.37 fee only applies on 29 days that are deemed to be the busiest between April 25, a holiday in Italy, and July 14, in a trial phase of the reservation-and-fee system. 

Most people entering the city must register and obtain a QR code, or a ticket for visitors without smartphones, but some tourists are exempt from paying the fee. For instance, visitors who spend the night in a hotel or Airbnb-style accommodation are not subject to the nominal tourist fee. Likewise, residents, people born in Venice, people visiting relatives who are residents, workers, students and visitors under the age of 14 do not have to pay either.

There is no cap on the number of tourists who may reserve a visit on a given day. 

In a public video, Luigi Brugnaro, the mayor of Venice, called the new system an "experiment" to protect the city. 

"We do it with great humility," he said. In a social media post , he added that the rollout was "going well" and "the atmosphere is relaxed."

Simone Venturini, the tourism councilor of Venice, added, "The whole world would like to visit Venice, and this is an honor for us. But not everyone in the world is able to do so on the exact same day."

Experts are skeptical the tourist charge will meaningfully reduce crowds or generate enough money to cover the costs associated with accommodating large numbers of visitors, like managing water and waste.  

"For cities like Venice, most research shows that an additional tax does not lower arrivals, as is often contended," Megan Epler Wood, managing director at the Sustainable Tourism Asset Management Program (STAMP) at Cornell University, said in a statement. "In order to address the invisible burden of tourism, new destination management entities will need to determine the cost per tourist to ensure there is an equitable and sustainable use of local resources. Once such costs are determined, tax reform will be required to cover these costs."

Some residents protested the new policy on Thursday, according to media reports. Some were seen clashing with riot police, while others tried to break through a blockade, CNBC reported .

The fragile lagoon city has a population of roughly 50,000, a sliver of what it was a couple of generations ago. On its busiest days, it can draw nearly as many tourists as it has residents.

A United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage property, the city features masterpieces from Giorgione, Titian, Tintoretto and others. 

Megan Cerullo is a New York-based reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering small business, workplace, health care, consumer spending and personal finance topics. She regularly appears on CBS News 24/7 to discuss her reporting.

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It’s Official—Venice Will Start Charging Day-Trippers in 2024

By Jessica Puckett

If a Venetian gondola ride under the Bridge of Sighs or an aperitivo at Harry’s Bar is on your travel list for 2024 , you might need to fill out some extra paperwork—and pay some extra money. In an effort to shore up against the ravages of overtourism, Venice will start charging certain tourists an entry fee to access the marvels of the delicate floating city.

As part of the plan for next year, the city recently released its fee schedule for 2024 detailing the days peak-hour visitors can expect to be levied the new tax (which will only apply to tourists who are not spending the night). The goal of the new fee is to encourage visitors to stay longer, reduce overcrowding, and make Venice more hospitable for its permanent residents.

Day-trippers over the age of 14 will have to pay 5 euros (about $5.45) to gain entry, but Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro says the primary purpose of the levy is not to bring in extra money. “Our attempt is to make a more livable city,” Brugnaro said of the policy at a news conference earlier this month, per the AP .

According to the schedule, there are 29 days on which day-trippers will be charged to enter Venice in 2024. Most of them fall on weekends during the high season from April to July, with some weekdays included during April and May. The fee will apply between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., which are considered the city’s busiest hours. Short-term visitors outside of those hours—those coming for the evening or in the early morning—will not have to pay the new tax. Others exempt from the charge include residents, travelers staying in a hotel within Venice (who already pay a similar tax each night), students, workers, and anyone born in Venice.

Day visitors will need to register before arrival, and can begin scheduling their visits on a just-launched page on the city of Venice’s government website, starting on January 16. After paying the 5 euros, the site will generate a QR code that day-trippers will need to show upon arrival in Venice at one of seven entry points.

Day-trippers will be charged to enter Venice in 2024, according to the new schedule.

Why is Venice taxing tourists?

Although it’s launching in 2024, Venice’s plans to tax day-trippers have long been in the works. The first iteration of the plan was introduced in 2019, but was derailed by the pandemic until recently. In the past, the city has also installed electronic turnstiles to particularly crowd-choked sectors of the city; tourists had to use an app and pay a small fee in order to pass through.

But travel specialists don’t agree that the new 5 euro charge will be an effective deterrent for travelers eager to see the wonders of the UNESCO-listed lagoon city, including the breathtaking Grand Canal, St. Mark’s Square, and the Rialto Bridge. “I’m not sure it will discourage visitors from coming during high-season, but hopefully the extra charge contributes to a cleaner, safer, and more efficient Venice,” says Courtney Mundy , a travel specialist with Butterfield & Robinson based in Italy.

For others, the crowd control isn’t worth the hassle that the registration system could pose for other visitors. “Not only will the day-trippers have to file for a QR code, but also workers in the city and, ridiculously, Venice’s hotel guests,” says Avi Hagby , a resident and owner of tour company Venice Luxury Services. “That means that even the non-day-tripper will have to file arduous forms before coming." Indeed, travelers staying in Venetian hotels will also need to generate a QR code to show on arrival and input their hotel information in order to bypass the fee.

Regardless of whether the tax will be effective at quelling the crowds, it’s certainly clear that Venice is reaching a breaking point with overtourism. During the summer high season, as many as 110,000 tourists per day pass through Venice, according to Euro News . The hordes of visitors far outnumber the local population—which currently clocks in at about 50,000 residents—and contribute to problems including litter, pollution, and potential damage to historic sites.

The situation has gotten so dire that UNESCO recommended earlier this year that the city be placed on its World Heritage in Danger list, which tracks sites at risk of deterioration or destruction due to “serious and specific dangers.” (Along with mass tourism, the organization is also concerned by the threat of climate change looming over the city.) Ultimately, UNESCO refrained from adding Venice to the official list, in part because of the day-tripper tax, according to the AP.

But, for some, tourists who visit only for the day represent only a small piece of a much larger issue. “Blaming them for overtourism in Venice would not be accurate,” Hagby says. “It’s only part of the problem.” Just as important, according to Hagby, would be increasing the amount of hotel rooms available in Venice to encourage longer stays, clamping down on illegal vacation rentals, and prioritizing efforts to grow the city’s number of residents.

St Mark's square is a big draw for tourists, thanks to its historical architecture and the San Giorgio Maggiore church.

To help reduce the strain, consider a longer stay during the off-season

While those are all initiatives for officials to tackle, tourists can do their parts, too. The easiest way travelers can take pressure off of the at-risk destination? “The short answer is to stay longer,” Mundy says. “The tourism economy in Venice is largely driven by hotel revenue, whereas purchases by day-trippers contribute only a fraction of support for the city. Staying longer reduces the environmental impact of scores of day-trippers packing onto one ferry after the other, which disrupts the wildlife in the canals, adds to air, water, and sound pollution, and increases the number of paper tickets printed.”

Travelers who opt for longer visits in Venice can plan a more in-depth trip, including visiting other islands in the Lagoon, according to Mundy. “We take our travelers biking along the beach in Pellestrina and Lido, to the mesmerizing glass workshops in Murano, and have a wine-paired lunch in complete tranquility on tiny Mazzorbo,” she says.

Visiting outside of peak hours of 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. is another good way to reduce strain on the fragile city. A visit at night also means avoiding the new tax—remember, it ends at 4 p.m.—and saving a bit of cash. “Saint Mark’s Square is even more beautiful in the evening,” Hagby says. Of course, like many destinations, visiting in the off-season is one of the surest ways to avoid Venice’s clamoring crowds. Cold weather months tend to be significantly slower, with November to January usually being the calmest, according to Hagby.

Even though it will be chillier, the good news is that Venice is enchanting all year round. “If you have the possibility to choose the period in which to visit Venice, come during low season,” Hagby says. “Venice is fascinating when it’s foggy or cold.”

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Venice access fee: what is it and how much does it cost?

The Italian Unesco site is hoping to reduce over-tourism with the charge – the first of its kind in a major city

After years in the making, Venice will on Thursday begin charging day trippers to enter the city in an effort to protect the Unesco world heritage site from the effects of over-tourism.

While the measure has ignited criticism and derision from some, who argue it is unconstitutional and restrictive of freedom of movement – the Venice mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, has compared his “bravery” in enacting the charge to that of the Venetian explorer Marco Polo, in daring to go where others have feared to tread.

In some ways this is true: Venice will become the first major city in the world to adopt such an initiative, and others grappling with the impact of mass tourism are keenly observing.

However, will this bold experiment work in practice? Will it help save Venice, a uniquely beautiful city that campaigners have warned for decades is in peril? And – most importantly, perhaps, for anyone looking to book their trip – how do you buy your tickets?

Why is this being introduced?

According to Simone Venturini, the city’s councillor for tourism, Venice “affixed itself” to mass tourism in the 1960s and since then visitor numbers have surged to the point that during the busiest periods of the year it attracts an average of 40,000 people a day.

That number has put pressure on the fragile lagoon, while pushing residents away from the main island. Brugnaro said he wanted to make Venice “livable” again.

However, the final push to enact the measure came after Unesco threatened last year to put Venice on its list of heritage sites in danger, citing mass tourism and rising water levels attributed to climate change.

While Venice has moved to counter mass tourism in recent years by banning huge cruise ships from chugging through its centre, the city only escaped the potential shame of losing its Unesco status after the access charge was agreed.

How much is the charge and who has to pay?

The “Venice access fee” costs €5 (£4.30). It could be worse – when the idea was first suggested it was €10. Only day trippers have to pay. Residents, commuters, students and children under 14 are exempt, as are tourists who stay overnight. Critics of the scheme say the €5 is unlikely to deter many people.

How do I buy a ticket, and on which dates is one required?

The tickets are bookable online and apply on 29 peak dates between 25 April and 14 July. The dates are listed on the site. You will be provided with a QR code on your phone – guard it as this is the proof that you have paid the fee.

Hang on, Venice is a massive place with dozens of islands. Where exactly does it apply?

The charge applies only to those entering the historic centre of Venice between 8.30am and 4pm on any of the peak dates. That includes the Rialto Bridge, St Mark’s Square, La Fenice opera house and many other top-drawer tourist attractions, as well as quieter neighbourhoods such as the island of Giudecca.

What if I arrive in Venice without the QR code or I don’t have access to a mobile phone?

Fear not. When you arrive in Venice, says the council, be it by train, bus, or boat, stewards wearing white bibs featuring the city’s logo will guide you through buying the ticket online and downloading the QR code.

Those without a phone can pay at water taxi stations or in tabacchi shops, Venturini says.

The five key entrance points are Venezia Santa Lucia train station, bus terminals at Piazzale Roma and Tronchetto, and vaporetti (water bus) stops at Zattere and the Riva degli Schiavoni, the waterfront that covers the entrance to St Mark’s Square.

How will the measure be implemented?

Brugnaro has promised the system will be imposed with “very soft controls” and “without queues”, rejecting speculation the city would be installing barriers or turnstiles in the streets.

In effect, the authorities hope the measure will be implemented by means of a fleet of 180 personnel, made up of volunteer stewards, council staff and public officials. Those wearing white bibs are there to inform, while those wearing yellow bibs are there to do random checks and have the power to issue fines for those without a QR code.

Venturini said that if you arrived without one and did not approach someone in a white bib for information, and you were then spot-checked by someone in a yellow bib, you would risk being fined.

And how bad are the penalties?

Fines range from €50 to €300. “Don’t worry, nobody will be arrested for not having paid the fee,” said a council spokesperson.

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A day trip to Venice will require a reservation — and a fee

The Associated Press

A tourist takes a selfie in St. Mark's Square in Venice, Italy, in 2016. Starting in January, the city will require day-trippers to make reservations and pay a fee to visit. Luca Bruno/AP hide caption

A tourist takes a selfie in St. Mark's Square in Venice, Italy, in 2016. Starting in January, the city will require day-trippers to make reservations and pay a fee to visit.

ROME — Starting in January, Venice will oblige day-trippers to make reservations and pay a fee to visit the historic lagoon city, in a bid to better manage visitors who often far outnumber residents in the historic center, clogging narrow streets and heavily-used foot bridges crossing the canals.

Venice officials on Friday unveiled new rules for day-trippers, which go into effect on Jan. 16, 2023.

Tourists who choose not to stay overnight in hotels or other lodgings will have to sign up online for the day they plan to come and pay a fee. These range from 3 to 10 euros ($3.15 to $10.50) per person, depending on advance booking and whether it's peak season or the city is very crowded.

Transgressors risk fines as high as 300 euros ($315) if stopped and unable to show proof they booked and paid with a QR Code.

From the archives

With waters rising and its population falling, what is venice's future.

Roughly four-fifths of all tourists come to Venice just for the day. In 2019, the last full year of tourism before the pandemic, some 19 million day-trippers visited Venice and provided just a fraction of the revenue from those staying for at least one night.

Venice's tourism commissioner brushed off any suggestion that the measure would seek to limit the number of out-of-towners coming to Italy's most-visited city.

"We won't talk about number cutoffs. We're talking about incentives and disincentives," Simone Venturini told a news conference in Venice.

Tourists stroll in downtown Venice in 2016. On many days, the heart of the city is overwhelmed by visitors, who often far outnumber residents. Luca Bruno/AP hide caption

Tourists stroll in downtown Venice in 2016. On many days, the heart of the city is overwhelmed by visitors, who often far outnumber residents.

The reservation-and-fee approach had been discussed a few years ago, but was put on hold during the pandemic. COVID-19 travel restrictions saw tourism in Venice nearly vanish — and let Venetians have their city practically to themselves, for the first time in decades.

Mass tourism began in the mid-1960s. Visitor numbers kept climbing, while the number of Venetians living in the city steadily dwindled, overwhelmed by congestion, the high cost of delivering food and other goods in car-less Venice, and frequent flooding that damages homes and businesses.

Since guests at hotels and pensions already pay a lodging tax, they are exempt from the reserve-and-fee obligation.

With the new rule, Venice aims to "find this balance between (Venetian) resident and long-term and short-term" visitors, Venturini said, promising that the new system "will be simple for visitors" to manage. He billed Venice as the first city in the world putting such a system for day-only visitors in place.

As tourists crowd out locals, Venice faces endangered' list

The tourism official expressed hope that the fee-and-reservation obligation will "reduce frictions between day visitors and residents." In peak tourism system, tourists can outnumber residents 2-to-1, in the city that measures 5 square kilometers (2 square miles) in area.

Venice's resident population in the historic city numbers just over 50,000, a small fraction of what it was a couple of generations ago.

Exceptions to the day-tripper fees include children younger than 6, people with disabilities and those owning vacation apartments in Venice, provided they can show proof they pay real estate taxes.

Cruise ships contribute to the hordes of visitors swarming Venice's maze of narrow streets, especially near St. Mark's Square, when they disembark day-trippers for a few hours. Those visitors will have to pay, too, unless their cruise liner company pays a set fee to Venice.

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Venice tests a 5-euro entry fee for day-trippers as the Italian city grapples with overtourism

Under the gaze of the world’s media, the fragile lagoon city of Venice launches a pilot program Thursday to charge day-trippers a 5-euro (around $5.35) entry fee that authorities hope will discourage visitors from arriving on peak days and make the city more liveable for its dwindling residents. (AP Video by Paolo Santalucia)

Stewards check tourists QR code access outside the main train station in Venice, Italy, Thursday, April 25, 2024. The fragile lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. The daytripper tax is being tested on 29 days through July, mostly weekends and holidays starting with Italy’s Liberation Day holiday Thursday. Officials expect some 10,000 people will pay the fee to access the city on the first day, downloading a QR code to prove their payment, while another 70,000 will receive exceptions, for example, because they work in Venice or live in the Veneto region. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

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Tourists line up to enter at the at St.Mark bell tower in Venice, Italy, Thursday, April 25, 2024. The fragile lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

A steward shows the QR code access outside the main train station in Venice, Italy, Thursday, April 25, 2024. The fragile lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. The daytripper tax is being tested on 29 days through July, mostly weekends and holidays starting with Italy’s Liberation Day holiday Thursday. Officials expect some 10,000 people will pay the fee to access the city on the first day, downloading a QR code to prove their payment, while another 70,000 will receive exceptions, for example, because they work in Venice or live in the Veneto region. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Stewards check a tourist QR code access outside the main train station in Venice, Italy, Thursday, April 25, 2024. The fragile lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. The daytripper tax is being tested on 29 days through July, mostly weekends and holidays starting with Italy’s Liberation Day holiday Thursday. Officials expect some 10,000 people will pay the fee to access the city on the first day, downloading a QR code to prove their payment, while another 70,000 will receive exceptions, for example, because they work in Venice or live in the Veneto region. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Citizens and activists confront police during a demonstration against Venice Tax Fee in Venice, Italy, Thursday, April 25, 2024. The fragile lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. The daytripper tax is being tested on 29 days through July, mostly weekends and holidays starting with Italy’s Liberation Day holiday Thursday. Officials expect some 10,000 people will pay the fee to access the city on the first day, downloading a QR code to prove their payment, while another 70,000 will receive exceptions, for example, because they work in Venice or live in the Veneto region. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Tourists arrive outside the main train station in Venice, Italy, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday, April 25, 2024 to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. Officials expect some 10,000 people will pay the fee to access the city on the first day, downloading a QR code to prove their payment. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Tourists enjoy a ride on gondolas in Venice, Italy, Thursday, April 25, 2024. The fragile lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Marco Bettini, director of Venis Informatics System, gestures as he talks to reporters at the police Venice control room, in Venice, Italy, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday, April 25, 2024 to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. Officials expect some 10,000 people will pay the fee to access the city on the first day, downloading a QR code to prove their payment. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Workers prepare the tourist tax cashier desks outside the main train station in Venice, Italy, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday, April 25, 2024 to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. Officials expect some 10,000 people will pay the fee to access the city on the first day, downloading a QR code to prove their payment. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Venice councillor Simone Venturini speaks with reporters in front of a tourist tax totem in Venice, Italy, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday, April 25, 2024 to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. Officials expect some 10,000 people will pay the fee to access the city on the first day, downloading a QR code to prove their payment. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Tourists enjoy a sunny day at St.Mark square in Venice, Italy, Thursday, April 25, 2024. The fragile lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

A citizen shows a ticket with the writing ‘Veniceland’ during a protest against Venice Tax Fee in Venice, Italy, Thursday, April 25, 2024. The fragile lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. The daytripper tax is being tested on 29 days through July, mostly weekends and holidays starting with Italy’s Liberation Day holiday Thursday. Officials expect some 10,000 people will pay the fee to access the city on the first day, downloading a QR code to prove their payment, while another 70,000 will receive exceptions, for example, because they work in Venice or live in the Veneto region. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Citizens and activists stage a protest against Venice Tax Fee in Venice, Italy, Thursday, April 25, 2024. The fragile lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. The daytripper tax is being tested on 29 days through July, mostly weekends and holidays starting with Italy’s Liberation Day holiday Thursday. Officials expect some 10,000 people will pay the fee to access the city on the first day, downloading a QR code to prove their payment, while another 70,000 will receive exceptions, for example, because they work in Venice or live in the Veneto region. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

VENICE, Italy (AP) — Under the gaze of the world’s media, the fragile lagoon city of Venice launched a pilot program Thursday to charge day-trippers a 5-euro ($5.35) entry fee that authorities hope will discourage visitors from arriving on peak days and make the city more livable for its dwindling residents.

Visitors arriving at Venice’s main train station were greeted with large signs listing the 29 dates through July of the plan’s test phase that also designated separate entrances for tourists, and residents, students and workers.

“We need to find a new balance between the tourists and residents,’’ said Simone Venturini, the city’s top tourism official. “We need to safeguard the spaces of the residents, of course, and we need to discourage the arrival of day-trippers on some particular days.”

Not all residents, however, are persuaded of the efficacy of the new system in dissuading mass tourism , insisting that only a resurgence in the population will restore balance to a city where narrow alleyways and water buses are often clogged with tourists.

Hundreds of Venetians protested against the program, marching festively though the city’s main bus terminal behind banners reading “No to Tickets, Yes to Services and Housing.” Protesters scuffled briefly with police with riot gear who blocked them from entering the city, before changing course and entering over another bridge escorted by plainclothes police officers. The demonstration wrapped up peacefully in a piazza.

Tourists arriving at the main station encountered almost as many journalists as stewards on hand to politely guide anyone unaware of the new requirements through the process of downloading the QR code to pay the fee.

Arianna Cecilia, a tourist from Rome visiting Venice for the first time, said she thought it was “strange” to have to pay to enter a city in her native country, and be funneled through separate entrance ways for tourists. She and her boyfriend were staying in nearby Treviso, and so downloaded the QR code as required. But she was still caught off-guard while soaking in her first view ever of Venice’s canals by the sight of the entrance signs and her boyfriend telling her to get out the ticket.

On the other side of the entrance ways, workers in yellow vests carried out random checks at the train station. Transgressors face fines of 50 to 300 euros ($53 to $320), but officials said “common sense” was being applied for the launch.

The requirement applies only for people arriving between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Outside of those hours, access is free and unchecked.

Tourists take pictures at the St. Mark square in Venice, Italy, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Venice has long suffered under the pressure of overtourism, and officials hope that the pilot project can help provide more exact figures to better manage the phenomenon.

The city can track the number of hotel visitors, which last year numbered 4.6 million and is down 16% from pre-pandemic highs. But the number of day visitors, which make up the majority of the crowds in Venice, could only be estimated until recently.

A Smart Control Room set up during the pandemic has been tracking arrivals from cellphone data, roughly confirming pre-pandemic estimates of 25 million to 30 million arrivals a year, said Michele Zuin, the city’s top economic official. That includes both day-trippers and overnight guests.

But Zuin said the data is incomplete.

“It’s clear we will get more reliable data from the contribution” being paid by day-trippers, he said.

Venturini said the city is strained when the number of day-trippers reaches 30,000 to 40,000. On peak days, local police set up one-way traffic for pedestrians to keep the crowds moving.

Residents opposing the day-tripper tax insist that the solution to Venice’s woes are to boost the resident population and the services they need, limiting short-term rentals to make available more housing and attract families back from the mainland.

Last year, Venice passed a telling milestone when the number of tourist beds exceeded for the first time the number of official residents, which is now below 50,000 in the historic center with its picturesque canals.

“Putting a ticket to enter a city will not decrease not even by one single unit the number of visitors that are coming,’’ said Tommaso Cacciari, an activist who organized a protest Thursday against the measure.

“You pay a ticket to take the metro, to go to a museum, an amusement park. You don’t pay a ticket to enter a city. This is the last symbolic step of a project of an idea of this municipal administration to kick residents out of Venice,” he said.

Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro declared the launch day, coinciding with an Italian holiday, a success, registering 15,700 paying visitors, 50% more than anticipated.

More than 97,000 others had downloaded a QR code denoting an exemption, including to work in Venice or as a resident of the Veneto region. Hotels in Venice, including in mainland districts like Marghera or Mestre, provided a QR code for visitors to attest to their stay, which includes a hotel tax — accounting for 40,000 of those.

Venturini, the tourist official, said that interest in Venice’s pilot program has been keen from other places suffering from mass tourism, including other Italian art cities, and municipalities abroad such as Barcelona, Spain, and Amsterdam.

But Marina Rodino, who has lived in Venice for 30 years, doesn’t see the fee as the cure-all. Neighboring apartments in her residential building near the famed Rialto Bridge once inhabited by families are now short-term apartment rentals.

The corner butcher shop closed. Yet she noted that the new entrance fee requirement will still allow young people to flood the city in the evening for the traditional aperitivo, which can grow rowdy.

She was passing out mock European Union passports for “Venice, Open City,” underlining the irony of the new system, and challenging its legal standing with citations from the Italian Constitution guaranteeing its citizens the right to “move or reside freely in any part of the national territory.”

“This is not a natural oasis. This is not a museum. It is not Pompeii. It is a city, where we need to fight so the houses are inhabited by families, and stores reopen. That is what would counter this wild tourism,’’ Rodino said.

Venice Launches Fee for Day-Trippers

This is part of a pilot program to control for mobs of tourists.

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A day trip to the city of canals is just a little more expensive this summer. Starting this week, Venice is charging tourists visiting for a day.

The fee is part of a pilot program the city launched in an effort to control the amount of visitors to the tourism mecca, as officials recognize they "need to find a new balance between the tourists and residents," Simone Venturini, top tourism official said, according to the Associated Press . 

"We need to safeguard the spaces of the residents, of course, and we need to discourage the arrival of day-trippers on some particular days," Venturini said. 

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The fee is focused on people just visiting for a day, not those staying overnight, and it comes in the wake of several other efforts the city is taking to try to limit the amount of tourists. 

What to know about Venice's day-trip fee

The Venice access fee is 5 euros, or about $5.35. It can be paid online ahead of time, and there are also QR codes posted at entry points to Venice for those arriving without having paid. 

The pilot program, when visitors have to pay to enter, is in effect on the following days:

• April 25-30

Visitors who arrive after 4 p.m. or before 8:30 a.m. will not be charged the fee. Entrance then will be free. Additionally, the fee won't apply for children under the age of 14.

There are also exemptions for the Venice fee . This includes residents of Veneto, the region Venice is part of, and relatives of Venetian residents, as well as students on school trips. 

Other tourism restrictions in Venice

In recent years, Venice has attempted several measures to try to tamp down the number of visitors. An estimated 25 to 30 million people visit the city each year, according to the AP, and this fee will help the city be able to more accurately measure how many of those visitors are only there for the day. 

Other efforts the city has attempted include banning large cruise ships from docking and banning large groups of visitors. Venice announced in December it was banning loudspeakers and tourist groups over 25 people, according to the BBC .  That is going into effect this June. 

This all comes as Venice faces pressure from multiple sides to limit tourism, which physically damages the floating city, pushes residents out, and, if I may, makes visiting rather miserable, no matter how beautiful it looks. 

UNESCO , the United Nations agency that looks at historically and culturally significant places, has noted that "exceptionally high tourism pressure" in Venice has functionally transformed it, including "by the replacement of residents' houses with accommodation and commercial activities and services to the residence with tourism-related activities that endanger the identity and the cultural and social integrity" of the area.

If your heart's set on Venice, make sure you have what you need to travel to Europe , and there are plenty of great travel websites to help plan your trip. Although, I might suggest, why not try Bari, in south Italy, or Dubrovnik, in Croatia, instead? You'll save at least $5 — and plenty of headaches over crowds. 

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Alexandra Svokos is the senior digital editor of Kiplinger. She holds an MBA from NYU Stern in finance and management and a BA in economics and creative writing from Columbia University. Alexandra has a decade of experience in journalism and previously served as the senior editor of digital for ABC News, where she directed daily news coverage across topics through major events of the early 2020s for the network's website, including stock market trends, the remote and return-to-work revolutions, and the national economy. Before that, she pioneered politics and election coverage for Elite Daily and went on to serve as the senior news editor for that group. 

Alexandra was recognized with an "Up & Comer" award at the 2018 Folio: Top Women in Media awards, and she was asked twice by the Nieman Journalism Lab to contribute to their annual journalism predictions feature. She has also been asked to speak on panels and give presentations on the future of media and on business and media, including by the Center for Communication and Twipe. 

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Venice rolling out day-tripper fee in April 2024, aims to regulate crowds

ROME — Venice authorities on Thursday unveiled a pilot program to charge day-trippers 5 euros ($5.45) apiece to enter the fragile lagoon city on peak weekends next year in an effort to reduce crowds, encourage longer visits and improve the quality of life for residents.

The rollout of the tourist “contribution” program came after Venice, a UNESCO World Heritage site, narrowly escaped being placed on the U.N. agency's danger list earlier this year because of the threat that overtourism was having on its delicate ecosystem. Member states cited the proposed new entry fee in deciding to spare Venice from the list.

Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro stressed Thursday that the fee is not a new tourist tax or an attempt to bring in extra revenue. Rather, he said, it is a first-of-its-kind experiment in regulating tourist flows in one of the world’s most-visited places by incentivizing visitors to avoid high-traffic periods and come on other days.

“Our attempt is to make a more livable city,” he said at a news conference outlining the pilot program.

In all, 29 days from April to mid-July – including most weekends – will be subject to the day-tripper fee during peak hours from 8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m., meaning visitors who come into Venice for dinner or a concert won’t have to pay.

Learn more: Best travel insurance

A host of exemptions apply, including for residents and Venetian-born visitors, students and workers, as well as tourists who have hotel or other lodging reservations.

Starting on Jan. 16, a website,  www.cda.ve.it , will go live at which visitors can “reserve” their day in Venice. Day trippers pay 5 euros and get a QR code that will then be checked at spot controls at seven access points around the city, including at the main train station.

Visitors with hotel reservations enter their hotel information and also get a QR code to show, without having to pay since their hotel bill will already include a Venice lodging fee.

After COVID-19 lockdowns devastated Venice's tourism industry, the city of narrow alleyways, canals and islands has been trying to rethink its relationship with visitors in a more sustainable way while also seeking to incentivize its residents to stay put.

Venice has been forced to take action in response to the steady exodus of Venetians to the mainland and pressure from UNESCO and environmentalists, who also lobbied successfully to have the government  ban big cruise ships  from sailing past St. Mark’s Square and through the Giudecca canal.

Venice has been pointing to longer-term tourists as key to its survival since they tend to spend more. Brugnaro said in no way does the new day-tripper contribution discourage tourism overall, but just seeks to manage it better. He acknowledged the visitor program will probably have glitches and will need to be amended. But he said that after years of study and talk, it was time to roll it out.

Reservations for new Venice day-trip entry fee launch this summer

Editor's Note

Travelers heading to Venice in 2023 can start making their reservations this summer for the recently announced entry fee required for all day-trippers starting next year.

This fee will apply to those dipping in and out of the Floating City just for the day. It's part of a larger crackdown on overtourism suffered by the ancient canal city, which in addition to sinking under rising sea levels has further sunk beneath the weight of day-tripping tourists.

For more TPG news delivered each morning to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter .

In an effort to limit the damage caused by tourism, visitors will have to buy a ticket for every day they spend there or be turned away at the city gates beginning next year.

To ensure you're able to enter as planned, visitors must reserve daily entry by purchasing an online ticket, which will be available starting in June, ahead of travel.

Earlier this week, Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro announced that reservations would launch this summer for visitors intending to visit in January and beyond. Tickets will cost between $3.25 and $10.85 depending on the time of day, and one ticket must be bought per person per day. Overnight visitors do not have to purchase these.

"Tourism starts again in #Venezia A breath of fresh air for operators. Today many have understood that making the City bookable is the right way to take, for a more balanced management of tourism," the mayor tweeted on April 18. "We will be the first in the world in this difficult experimentation."

The expected launch of the reservation portal this summer comes after a tourist-filled Easter weekend which CNN reported brought nearly 300,000 tourists to the Catholic city.

The vast daily influx of tourists has driven up the cost of living to the point that many locals are being forced out of their hometown to survive. Five years ago, Venice had 67,000 permanent residents. As of 2022, there are only 50,000 left.

"The aim is to discourage one-day tourism, hit-and-run tourism, arriving in one day and leaving in the same day, tiring and stressing the city, and encouraging slower tourism instead," Simone Venturini, the city's deputy mayor for tourism, said previously.

It's among a raft of measures officials have signed off on in hopes of reducing the 100,000 people who stroll along the city's winding waterways and storied squares every day.

The ticketing system will be backed by an extra 500 closed-circuit TV cameras installed to keep an eye on the flow of visitors, while police will harness individual mobile phone data to establish the identity of people in real time.

"If I enter the data in the aggregated anonymous form, we can see exactly who these people are: 977 foreigners, 800 Italians, 135 residents and 139 commuters," Maria Teresa Maniero, deputy commander at the Venice Police, said in January in first announcing the system.

The fee, essentially a tourist tax and a way of limiting entry to the popular city, has been in the works since 2019, when TPG first reported the plan, but activating it has been delayed for various reasons, including the pandemic.

Tourism has become something of a double-edged sword for Venetians of late, where it both keeps livelihoods afloat while simultaneously smothering aspects of its centuries-old way of life.

While overtourism had been held in check by the pandemic, it now threatens to reassert itself as travel restrictions across the world begin to loosen.

Before the pandemic, Venice drew as many as 80,000 tourists each day, approximately 25 million per year. The heavy congestion had gotten so bad, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee considered adding Venice to its list of endangered heritage sites. The decision was abandoned after Italy banned large cruise ships from entering Venice's waters earlier this month.

Cruise ships have long been criticized by locals and environmentalists for contributing to overcrowding in Venice, as well as polluting its iconic canals.

"We cannot continue to have such huge numbers of tourists," Brugnaro said in September. "Venice is a small and very delicate city. The number of visitors must be compatible with Venice's size. If there is no room, you won't be able to come in."

Additional reporting by Caroline Tanner.

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Planning a Day Trip to Venice When It’s Crowded? It’ll Cost You.

The City Council passed an experimental plan to charge €5, in an effort to trim the footfall at a very popular but equally fragile place.

By Elisabetta Povoledo

Starting next spring, day-trippers to Venice — at times when the city is extremely crowded with tourists — will be expected to pay 5 euros for the privilege.

A measure to impose the fee was passed Tuesday by the Venice City Council as part of its strategy to better manage — and perhaps even limit — the hordes of tourists who flock each year to the fragile lagoon city.

“We have to show the world that for the first time, something is being done for Venice,” Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said after the vote. “There’s always someone who will say it’s not enough, but then nothing is done concretely,” he added, according to the news agency ANSA.

Rising improbably from the waters of the Venetian lagoon, this canal-crossed city is as beautiful as it is delicate, and in recent decades it has struggled to protect its uniqueness.

Threatened by climate change and rising seas, it installed a modern engineering behemoth, giant gates at four mouths of the lagoon to keep seawater out and its pavements dry, and it banned cruise ships from its inner canals.

But so far Venice officials have failed when it comes to tourist control , especially of the day-trippers carrying picnic lunches who make a beeline for the most famed attractions — the Rialto Bridge and St. Mark’s Square — clogging the city’s tiny streets while contributing very little to its economy.

About five million people have visited Venice so far this year, according to local officials, 10 percent fewer than in 2019.

This week, the United Nations culture agency, UNESCO, is expected to decide whether Venice should be placed on its World Heritage in Danger list. A document released in July said the city had not made enough progress in preventing damage from mass tourism, climate change and development projects.

City Hall had announced plans to introduce a fee last year , but it was postponed to help local businesses that depend on tourism recover from the pandemic, whose effects were felt until this year, said Michele Zuin, the city’s councilor in charge of the budget.

The €5 fee is “a contribution,” not an entrance ticket, Mr. Zuin said in a telephone interview in which he explained that the program was still in an “experimental phase.” He said the fee would be applied on the 30 days next year that typically draw the largest crowds to Venice. The dates have not been announced.

All visitors to Venice would need to go online, though a dedicated platform that is not yet operative, to receive a QR code to print out or save to their phone. Anyone staying for just the day would then pay the fee.

Visitors staying overnight would receive a different QR code noting their status and would not have to pay the fee, and neither would people who come into the city for work. Other exemptions include residents of Venice and the Veneto Region, children under 14, people studying in Venice, people who own property there and their immediate families and those who fall within a few other categories.

As part of the plan, municipal police and authorized inspectors would check people at random and anyone without the proper QR code would face a fine of between 50 euros and 300 euros, about $53 to $321. Residents will not need a QR code, just proof of residency. During the discussion on Tuesday, Mr. Brugnaro said the QR code was not a geo-tagging device, and that “no one will be tracked,” the news agency ANSA reported.

City officials said they hoped tourists would reserve their visits ahead of time.

“We’re used to reserving hotels, restaurants, train tickets when we visit a city, it’s normal,” Mr. Zuin said. “In this way, tourists can have a better experience of the city, while residents can live better as well,” he added. The fee won’t be charged off-season, which typically falls during the winter months, with the exception of Carnival.

City Hall has no intention of limiting the number of visitors to the city, Mr. Zuin said, adding: “Venice will never impose a closed number. It’s a special city, we can’t shut it.”

But starting in 2025, a fee could be charged on more days and the amount of the fee could rise. “The more people who come, the more it will cost after a certain threshold,” Mr. Zuin said. That threshold is one thing that the experimental phase will determine, he said, adding, “We’re very flexible.”

Not everyone is in favor of the new fee.

Monica Sambo, a City Council member from the center-left Democratic Party, called it a confirmation that Venice has become “a theme park, a Disneyland,” where “you get in by paying an entrance fee.”

The money raised by the fee will not be allocated specifically to public services that are significantly affected by tourists, like the often-crammed city’s vaporetti, or water buses. “It’s going to be swallowed up in some general coffer,” Ms. Samba said.

And the fee does little to confront the question of overcrowding, because it does not limit the number of tourists overall. Italy has laws that can be applied when public order is at risk, Ms. Sambo said. “On some days, when the city is especially full, public order is at risk, and it becomes a question of public security,” she added.

Two years ago, as part of its tourism-management strategy, City Hall set up a control room , to monitor people coming to the city through the visitors’ cellphones. The data it collected, Ms. Sambo said, has not been shared with opposition City Council members even though it had been requested repeatedly, to better understand tourist habits.

About 200 citizens staged a protest on Tuesday afternoon during the City Council deliberations, which lasted five hours, the news agency ANSA reported. They affixed a banner in the entrance hall that read: “The ticket won’t save us, we want houses, work and low rents.”

Elisabetta Povoledo is a reporter based in Rome and has been writing about Italy for more than three decades. More about Elisabetta Povoledo

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Venice Will Soon Have a Tourist Fee for Day-trippers — What to Know If You're Visiting

Day-trippers will have to sign up online the day they plan to visit and pay a fee ranging from 3 euros to 10 euros per person.

Venice has unveiled specifics for its new tourist fee that will be implemented next year.

The new tax will go into effect on Jan. 16, 2023, and will apply to day-trippers only, The Associated Press reported , citing officials in the canal city. The city had initially planned to implement the tourist fee this summer as a way to combat overtourism, but decided to push it to next year in May.

Simone Venturini, Venice's councilor for tourism, called the tax a "great revolution," CNN reported .

"Venice is a living city and it has to stay that way," Venturini said, explaining the goal was to reduce "tourist peaks."

Day-trippers will have to sign up online the day they plan to visit and pay a fee ranging from 3 euros to 10 euros per person, depending on the time of year and how crowded the city is, the AP reported. Those who don't pay the tax will risk a fine up to 300 euros (or $315).

Children under 6 will be exempt from the fee. Overnight visitors who book a hotel stay will also be exempt as they already pay a €5 ($5.33) per night tax.

About four-fifths of all tourists who visit Venice go for the day with about 19 million day-trippers visiting in 2019, according to The AP.

The fee, which has been a consideration since 2019, is Venice's latest effort to combat overtourism. The idea has been boosted by the near immediate improvement the city saw after the pandemic halted tourism, including allowing its famous canals to start to clear up .

Last year, Italy declared the waterways around Venice a "national monument ," and banned large cruise ships from the lagoon basin near St. Mark's Square and the Giudecca Canal. Venice's efforts have since earned it a reprieve from being included on the UNESCO World Heritage danger list.

Italy welcomes travelers from the United States and does not require them to show proof of vaccination or proof of a negative COVID-19 test to enter. The country has also stopped requiring visitors to show proof of vaccination to visit places like restaurants, bars, and museums.

Alison Fox is a contributing writer for Travel + Leisure. When she's not in New York City, she likes to spend her time at the beach or exploring new destinations and hopes to visit every country in the world. Follow her adventures on Instagram .