A world first as Venice brings in its tourist tax.

Live from the BBC World Service, this is the Marketplace Morning Report.

I'm Luke Wilson in for Leanna Byrne.

Good morning.

It's one of the world's top tourist destinations and for years

Venice has struggled with the impacts of mass tourism. The city's authorities estimate that every

year 20 million day trippers pour into its

narrow streets but now they're going to be charged an entrance fee of just over five

dollars the BBC's Mark Loin is in Venice for us.

Hi Mark.

Hi there, Luke.

So how will this work?

Well, I'm outside the city's main station here in Venice beside the Grand Canal,

and this is one of the access points for these day tripper tickets.

So there are people who are coming out of the train station and they're having to show their

phones to stewards who are wearing high visibility jackets to see whether or not they have indeed

paid their five euro entry fee. Now this is a ticket applicable only to day trippers

if you live in the region if you are staying overnight if you're a student or a young person you're

exempt but you also need to register for an exemption.

There are a few of these checkpoints around the city and it is a ticket that will be applicable

on about 30 days between now and the summer.

Now the thinking behind it is that Venice is glorious, unique, but also creaking under

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