Venice takes in more than €700,000 in eight days of entry fees.

In the eight days since Venice introduced a €5 entry fee for day-trippers, the Italian canal city has generated the same amount expected for the three-month duration of the controversial pilot project.

More than 144,000 day-tripping visitors coughed up the €5 entry fee between 25 April and 2 May, Corriere della Sera newspaper reports, earning the city just over €723,000.

Venice budget councillor Michele Zuin said the council had included "conservative" estimates in its budget, while the mayor Luigi Brugnaro has repeatedly insisted that the trial measure will cost the city far more than it will earn.

The entry fee system will cost Venice around €3 million, Corriere della Sera reports, with expenses including the communication campaign, information panels, ticket checks and the booking website.

Venice introduced the scheme - in operation on 29 days around public holidays and weekends between April and July this year - as part of measures to ease pressure on the city from mass tourism.

The system is effective from 08.30 to 16.00 until Sunday 5 May and every weekend between 11 May and 14 July (excluding 1 and 2 June).

The entry fee only applies to tourists on day trips, not visitors staying in Venice overnight, with fines of up to €300 for those who violate the rules.

The city's residents are exempt from paying the fee, as are children under the age of 14 and disabled visitors together with their carers.

Mayor Brugnaro says the aim is "to make the city livable for everyone" however the move has met protests from some local residents who accuse the city of turning Venice into a "theme park".

Cover image: Tourists in St Mark's Square, Venice. Photo credit: Kirk Fisher / Shutterstock.com.