[title_words_as_hashtags
Holidaymakers will soon be required to cough up an admission fee if they want to gain entry to one popular European city.
From Spring 2024, day-trippers will have to pay €5 (AUD$8.40) to enter Venice, Italy, in a measure introduced to curb “over tourism”.
The fee is set to be applied on a 30-day trial basis with visitors aged over 14 required to fork out the fee if they are not staying in the city for the night.
Venice authorities have insisted the decision is not “a money-making move” and is due to the impact of mass tourism on area.
The historic floating city is hoping to reduce its tourist numbers after the UN cultural agency UNESCO recommended it be added to the world heritage danger list.
Mayor Luigi Brugnaro maintained “Venice will always be open to everyone” after the city executive gave the green light for the introduction of the fee on Tuesday (local time).
“Regulating tourist flows in certain periods is necessary, but that does not mean closing the city,” he said.
The ticketing system will operate over a calendar month with “chargeable days” scattered across the year – mainly holiday weekends and peak carnival periods.
Locals, students, those with second homes and tourists staying overnight will be exempt from the fee, however, they are still required to book their trip online.
In a statement, the city’s council said that the purpose of the charge “is to discourage day tourism in certain periods”.
It added a forthcoming resolution will set out the dates on which the fee will be applicable, when it comes into effect next Spring and through to Summer.
