The Venetian authorities have decided to charge day-trippers a fee of €5 for access to their city's lagoon.
The aim is to bring mass tourism under control, after visitor numbers reached pre-Corona levels over the Easter weekend.
The system will be piloted in Spring next year, the period of greatest tourist affluence, after which it will enter fully into effect.
Venice is the first city in the world to carry out “this difficult experiment,” according to Mayor Luigi Brugnaro.
Provisions for an access fee have been in the pipeline since the measure was approved by the Italian government in late 2018 as a solution to mass tourism.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Venice attracted around 30 million tourists a year.
Not everyone will be required to pay the access fee. Visitors staying overnight would be exempted, as would people who go to the city for work.
Other exemptions include residents of Venice and the Veneto Region, children under 14, people studying in Venice and those who own property there, along with their immediate families.
