Several destinations have expressed concern over the risks and challenges that over tourism brings, and some have implemented “tourist taxes” in 2022 and others will do so in 2023. Revenues are expected to be used to foster sustainable tourism, as well as other expenses that are generated by the influx of visitors.
Roughly 700 million tourists traveled internationally between January and September of 2022, as reported by the United Nations World Travel Organization. The number was more than double (+133%) the number recorded for the same period in 2021. This equates to 63% of 2019 levels and puts the sector on course to reach 65% of its pre-pandemic levels this year. Results were boosted by strong pent-up demand, improved confidence levels and the lifting of restrictions in an increasing number of destinations. These are some of the locations set to implement tourist taxes in the near future.
1. Valencia, Spain
There will be a tourist tax in the Community of Valencia, to be applied at the end of 2023 or in 2024. It would be a tax on tourism in the region, although with a moratorium for a year in order to wait for a “full recovery”.
The amount of the tax will be between 0.50 and 2 euros per person per day, depending on the category of the establishment, and up to a maximum of one week. Those registered in the region itself will have to pay it, in case of staying in a place subject to the tax. The tax is not levied on overnight stays: in addition to hotels, campsites, rural houses and tourist homes, it also affects cruise ship passengers who stop in the Region, whether or not they spend the night in the autonomous region.
The tourist tax in the Community will be, according to the project presented, a tax of autonomous rank, initially 100% subsidized and with the possibility of being charged also by the municipalities, although it is not clear how they will control the money collected in this way.
Of all the large tourist towns, the only one that seems to apply it will be Valencia, because neither Benidorm, Alicante, Torrevieja or Peñíscola have expressed any intention of claiming it.
The federation of leisure, tourism and gaming as the main Valencian tourism employers (Hosbec, APHA or Aptur, among others) have requested this week to reject the processing of this tax considering that “it is not the time” to increase taxation at a time of economic uncertainty and with inflation above 10%.
2. Venice, Italy
Venice has been postponing the introduction of a new tourist tax with a specific date yet to be defined. The amount of the tax to enter Venice will be 3, 6, 8 or 10 euros depending on the level of affluence of the day. This tax will be payable on a dedicated website or through an application for smartphones (which do not yet exist) and which will issue a QR code to be presented in case of control.
Tourists who can prove that they have booked a hotel room, a bed and breakfast or an apartment in Venice (municipal territory) for more than one day will be exempted from payment, as will the relatives of a year-round Venetian resident. But this exemption will be conditioned to the registration on the site or application that will be dedicated to the tax.
The primary purpose of the tax is to better manage the flow of tourists in order to preserve Venice and also to allow those who are there to enjoy it. The tax is also intended to relieve Venetians of the costs they now pay alone to maintain the city and its services. The official date of implementation for the new entry fee had originally been scheduled for January 16th, 2023.
3. Thailand
Thailand plans to introduce an €8 entry fee for foreign visitors. According to Euronews, the fee was meant to be implemented by the end of 2022 but there have been some delays due to pending questions on how the new few would be implemented.
The 300 baht tax would be implemented to fund the management of tourist attractions and cover accident insurance for some visitors who cannot afford to pay the fees themselves, Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, told AFP. The fee will be incorporated into airfares, government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said in a statement.
4. Olhão, Portugal
The City of Olhão, in southern Portugal, is expected to start applying a tourist tax of two euros per night during high season. Authorities hope collect up to 300 thousand euros per year.
The measure, approved by the municipality in April of this year, and it will make Olhão the third municipality in the Algarve to apply a tourist tax, after Vila Real de Santo António and Faro. The fee will be two euros during the high season, and one euro in the low season (from November 1st to March 31st). Minors under 16 years of age and stays of more than five nights are exempt, which means that each tourist will pay a maximum of 10 euros.
The Intermunicipal Community of the Algarve (AMAL) had already approved the application of a similar tourist tax of two euros, taking into account proposals made by the two largest hotel associations in the region, and the Região do Turismo do Algarve (RTA). The Olhão Câmara intends to use 50% of the revenue from the new tax to “minimize the effects of tourist pressure, namely in cleaning and increasing security”.
Faro applied the measure in 2019 but had to suspend it for the next two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2022, it reintroduced the measure of €1.5 per night, only between March and October, for a maximum of seven nights on each stay of guests aged 13 and over.
5. Manchester, United Kingdom
As of 1st April 2023, Manchester started charging tourists a nightly tax, becoming the first city in the UK to take such a measure.
The fee is called “City Visitor Charge” and tourists staying at hotels as well as apartments and guesthouses in the city centre will have to pay £1 (€1.14) per night per room. Although it does not seem like much, the Manchester Accommodation Business Improvement District (ABID) expects this will bring about £3 million (€3.4 million) per year.
The decision to implement the charge was taken after 80% of hoteliers voted in favour of it in 2022. Part of the reason behind calling for the vote was Manchester’s plan of doubling its accommodation capacity with 28 new hotels, encompassing more than 6,000 rooms, over the next few years. Only accommodation with an annual rent value of over £75,000 (€85,000), regardless of whether they are hotels or short stay serviced apartments.
The Manchester ABID, who will collect the funds from the tax, was created at the initiative of the city’s hotel and serviced apartment providers in response to the challenges currently facing the accommodation sector in Manchester, which include the recovery from the pandemic and the impact of Brexit on the hospitality industry. The new initiative aims to create a more robust and sustainable accommodation sector in the city, maximise opportunities to increase occupancy and ensure the city remains a top tourist destination.
