This week, Venice will impose a day-trip admission fee in an audacious effort to combat overtourism

This week, Venice will start charging day visitors to enter the city—a first for the world meant to relieve some of the strain that overtourism is putting on the Italian city.

Visitors will first need to purchase a five-euro ($5.3) ticket on Thursday, which is a public holiday in Italy. This will be overseen by inspectors conducting spot checks at strategic locations inside the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Venice is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world; in 2022, 3.2 million tourists spent the night in the city’s historic center, much exceeding the 50,000 locals.

Every day, tens of thousands more people, mostly from cruise ships, swarm the city’s winding streets to take in the attractions, which include the Rialto Bridge and St. Mark’s Square.

In an attempt to reduce the worst of the crowds, the tickets are designed to entice day visitors to visit at slower times of the day.

Tickets will initially only be needed on 29 popular days in 2024, mostly on weekends from May to July.

However, the plan is being keenly monitored as travel hotspots throughout the globe struggle with an influx of tourists who not only enhance the local economy but also run the danger of overtaxing communities and destroying historic buildings and delicate ecosystems.

Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in the Canary Islands on Saturday to call for restrictions on the number of tourists allowed to enter the archipelago from Spain, the second most visited nation in the world after France.

The plan for the city has been called “an experiment, and the first time it’s been done anywhere in the world” by Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro.

“We want to improve the quality of life in Venice,” he said to reporters earlier this month.

UNESCO warning: Known as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, Venice is a city in northeastern Italy that is sprawled over more than 100 tiny islands and islets.

Declared an “extraordinary architectural masterpiece,” the city and its lagoon were in 1987 included in the UN cultural organization UNESCO’s list of world historic sites.

However, UNESCO warned last year to add Venice to its list of culturally significant places under risk, citing both increased water levels linked to climate change and heavy tourists.

Venice barely avoided disgrace when the new ticketing system was approved by the municipal government.

The concept has been discussed for a while but has been continually shelved due to worries that it would severely impair tourism and restrict freedom of movement.

Opposition council members portrayed the proposal as a hurriedly planned, pointless capitulation to UNESCO during a September discussion on the idea.

Gianfranco Bettin was one of them, saying, “Fifty euros might have done something.”

Massive cruise ships, from which hundreds of day-trippers depart every day, were banned from Venice in 2021 and were diverted to a farther-off industrial port.

Additionally, it has imposed a charge on overnight guests.

– No lines – The mayor of Venice has said that the new system would be implemented “without lines” and with “very soft controls,” dispelling rumors that turnstiles or barriers will be placed around the city.

Spot checks on visitors will be conducted by controllers positioned at the city’s key gateways, including the Santa Lucia rail station.

Without a ticket, visitors will be asked to buy one upon arrival with the assistance of local operators.

However, they run the chance of being fined between 50 and 300 euros.

The “Venice Access Fee” only applies to daily visitors who enter the old town between 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Hotel guests, children under 14, and people with disabilities are excluded.

There is currently no limit on the quantity of tickets, which are given out every day and may be obtained by downloading a QR code from the website https://cda.ve.it/en/.