VENICE is set to introduce a €10 entry fee in a bid to control tourist levels.
The new rule is thought to come into place in June as part of a six-month pilot scheme.
If successful, the fee – which converts to roughly £8.10 – could become a permanent fixture from January 2023.
It is understood that the fee could be lower, depending on how busy the city is on the day of visiting.
The scheme will also introduce a limit on how many tourists can enter the city each day.
Prior to Covid-19 putting the tourism industry on hold, Venice would regularly see as many as 30million people visit each year.
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Part of the fee's goal is to encourage tourists to stay overnight in Venice, rather than just coming for the day.
It is understood that those staying overnight in Venice won't have to pay the charge, although they will already be paying a tourist tax which is included in the price of accommodation throughout the city.
And if there are too many visitors, then they will stop anymore visiting for the day.
Simone Venurini – Venice's tourism councillor – told Italian media: "To determine the access fee, we will set a maximum threshold of 40,000 or 50,000 visitors a day."
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He had previously said to Conde Nast's Traveler Magazine: "We want to reposition Venice as a place people don't just come to for a few hours, but experience for a few days, and with a deeper awareness of its urban, social and cultural fabric.
"By introducing a ticketing system we can limit crowds, shift away from the 'day-tripper model' that's been so detrimental to the city, and hopefully win back the overnight guests that have stopped coming because of overtourism."
Cruise ships have since been banned in Venice, with it once being a popular stopping point for cruisers, while tourists are often fined hundreds of euros for breaking rules such as sunbathing on the steps in Venice or eating a picnic.
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Last year, the Italian city launched the Venice Smart Control Room which follows tourist behaviour and hopes to control the number of visitors during the peak season.
Inside the Smart Control Room, tourist numbers can be tracked across Venice by working with telecom provider TIM, as well as where they are from by analysing which country their mobile phone is registered to.
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