Venice, Sep 12 : In a bid to control excess tourism, authorities in Venice are expected to approve the trial of a 5-euro ($5.37) daily fee for all visitors over the age of 14 years to book their entry to the Italian city in advance.

In a statement, City council member for tourism Simone Venturini said the trial will be implemented during peak tourist periods in 2024, reports the BBC.

"Venice is among the most visited European cities... (and so)suffers the most from excess tourism," he said. 

"The objective is to invite daily tourists to choose (off-peak) days. We want to test (the fee) and, if needed, improve it. We cannot discuss for (an) other 40 years what's best to do."  Excess tourism has become an urgent issue for Venice which is just 7.6 sq.km in size, buthosted almost 13 million tourists in 2019, according to the Italian national statistics institute.