VENICE: Venice launched a new scheme on Thursday to charge day-trippers for entering the historic Italian city, a world first intended to ease the pressure of mass tourism but many residents are opposed.

Visitors entering the Unesco World Heritage site for the day have to buy a five-euro ($5.3) ticket, with inspectors carrying out spot checks at key entry points.

Considered one of the most beautiful cities on the planet, Venice is one of the world`s top tourist destinations but is drowning under the weight of the crowds.

Around 10,000 tickets had been sold by the time the scheme began at 8:30am on Thursday, according to Simone Venturini, the local councillor responsible for tourism.

Under a trial system, the `Venice Access Fee` is being introduced on 29 busy days throughout 2024, mostly weekends from May to July. Thursday is a pub-lic holiday in Italy. There is no limit to the number of tickets available. Instead, the goal is to try to persuade day-trippers to visit during quieter times.

`I think it`s good, because it will perhaps slow down the numbers of tourists in Venice,` said Sylvain Pelerin, a French tourist who has been visiting for more than 50 years. Overnight visitors, who already pay a tourist tax, will be exempt, as will minors under the age of 14 among others.

But not everyone is happy, with some residents set to protest against a measure they say curbs fundamental rights to freedom of movement.

`This is not a museum, it`s not a protected ecological area, you shouldn`t have to pay it`s a city,` Marina Dodino from the local residents association ARCI, said.

Luigi Brugnaro, the mayor of Venice, has said the new scheme is `an experiment`, monitored with `very soft controls` and `without queues`.-AFP