Starting in January, day-trippers in Venice need to make reservations and pay a fee to visit the historic lagoon city. On many days, the heart of Venice is overwhelmed by visitors, who often far outnumber residents.

Hence, Venice officials unveiled new rules for day-trippers, which go into effect on January 16, 2023. Tourists who choose not to stay overnight in hotels or other lodgings will have to sign up online for the day they plan to come and pay a fee. Fees range from 3 to 10 euros ($3.15 to $10.50) depending on advance booking and whether they are visiting in peak season.

Transgressors face fines as high as 300 euros ($315).

Roughly four-fifths of all tourists come to Venice just for the day. In 2019, the last full year of tourism before the pandemic, some 19 million day-trippers visited Venice and provided just a fraction of the revenue from those staying for at least one night.

The reservation-and-fee approach had been earlier discussed but was put on hold during the pandemic. COVID-19 travel restrictions saw tourism in Venice nearly vanish — and let Venetians have their city practically to themselves, for the first time in decades.