The pilot phase of the application of the “entrance ticket to Venice” began this morning. The “ticket” costs 5 euros, which must be paid by those who visit Galinotati for a day trip and arrive in the city before 4 pm.

According to the data made known by the municipality of Venice, for today they have made a “reservation” on the website www.cda.ve.it over 80,000 people. The vast majority, however, exempt from payment, since only seven thousand paid the entrance tax.

Company employees, working with the municipality, carry out checks on arriving visitors, mainly at the city’s train station. The mayor Luigi Brugnaro has emphasized that “this is a measure that does not aim at the substantial financial strengthening of the city’s coffers, but at the regulation, if possible, of mass tourism” and that “any controls will be carried out in a polite and friendly manner to the visitors”.

This is the first experiment of its kind in the whole world and the results of this first period will depend on whether the “entrance ticket” will continue to be valid in the future and exactly at what times of the year.

However, are excluded from the ticket payment residents of the wider Venice area, students, those who move to the city for work and health reasons, but also tourists who spend the night in hotels and rented houses or rooms. According to the regulation, the fine for anyone who should have a ticket, but has not issued one, amounts to 300 euros, but during the first period of implementation of the plan, the authorities have stated that they will be flexible.

This experimental phase concerns the period until the end of June with a total of 30 days of implementation of the pilot project.