The entry fee system for travellers visiting Venice will be postponed until next year, according to a report by Euronews Travel.
Venice mayor Luigi Brugnaro originally announced the launch of the new scheme to limit the number of visitors to be trialled ahead of the 2022 summer season.
However, the city’s authorities recently voted to delay the introduction of the fee until the start of 2023.
The aim of the fee is to protect the destination from mass tourism and was announced after some 400,000 tourists thronged the city during the Easter break.
Brugnaro described the system as “the right way forward” to manage the city’s tourism.
He said that Venice would be “the first in the world” to conduct “this difficult experiment.”
In addition to the booking system, day-trippers from 2023 will have to pay an entry fee of up to 10 euros to access the city center.
Travellers planning on spending the night in Venice will not need a prior reservation to enter the canal city.
Last year the officials also announced that travellers to Venice will soon be tracked using 468 CCTV cameras, optical sensors and a mobile phone-tracing system.
This will allow officials to be able to tell residents from visitors, Italians from foreigners, where people are coming from, where they are heading and how fast they are moving.
Every 15 minutes, authorities get a snapshot of how crowded the city is – alongside how many gondolas are sliding on the Canal Grande, whether boats are speeding and if the waters rise to dangerous levels.
This process is said to combat overcrowding and ‘hit and run tourism’ in the city.
Cruise ships are also now banned from the lagoon in a bid to ease the city’s congestion.