Travel
Tourist taxes: All of the countries you will have to pay to enter in 2023 or 2024
From the Algarve to Thailand, these are all the places bringing in new fees to combat overtourism.
Travel has well and truly bounced back since the pandemic, buoying tourist destinations that were crippled by restrictions and closures.
But some popular destinations are once again reeling under the strain of overtourism.
As a result, some resorted to implementing a ‘tourist tax’ last year and others have followed suit in 2023.
Many places already have tourist taxes in place and if you’ve travelled abroad, you’ve likely paid one before. You may have never noticed it – as it’s sometimes worked into airline tickets or the taxes you pay at your hotel.
We’ve done all the research for you: here is everything you need to know about the countries you have to pay to enter.
Barcelona is increasing its tourist tax in 2023
Barcelona’s tourist tax will be increased over the next two years, city authorities have announced.
Since 2012, visitors to the Catalan capital have had to pay both the regional tourist tax and an extra city-wide surcharge.
On 1 April, city authorities increased the municipal fee to €2.75.
A second increase will happen next year on 1 April 2024, when the fee will rise to €3.25.
The tax applies to visitors staying in official tourist accommodation.
The council said the proceeds would be used to fund the city’s infrastructure, including improvements to roads, bus services and escalators.
Valencia will impose a tourist tax in 2024
Valencia has announced it will introduce a tourist tax for travellers staying in all types of accommodation in the region, including hotels, hostels, apartments and campsites.
It will come into effect at the end of 2023 or early 2024.
Visitors will have to pay between 50 cents and €2 per night depending on their chosen accommodation, for up to seven nights.
Authorities say the fee will go towards the sustainable development of the region’s tourism sector. Proceeds will also be used to provide more affordable housing for locals in tourism hotspots.
Olhão, Portugal, introduced a tourist tax in 2023
Olhão, a Portuguese fishing town popular with tourists, has started charging visitors €2 a night between April and October.
The tax will be reduced to €1 between November and March. It will not apply to children under the age of 16 and it will be capped at five nights – so a maximum of €10 – per trip.
The fee is being used to minimise the impact of tourism in the Algarve town, including improving cleanliness and security, according to local authorities.
Two of the Algarve’s 16 municipalities already charged a tourist tax: Faro (€1.5 per night up to seven nights between March and October) and Vila Real de Santo António (€1 per day up to seven days).
Thailand is introducing a tourist fee in 2023
Thailand is introducing a tourist fee of 300 Baht (€8). It was initially expected to come into force at the end of 2022 but a lack of clarity on how it would be implemented has led to delays.
It now looks to have been delayed from June to September 2023, after airlines flagged further concerns.
The governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand told Reuters last year that part of the fee will “be used to take care of tourists” as there have been times when health insurance didn’t cover them.
It will also help finance further developments of tourist attractions, such as the Grand Palace in Bangkok.
Venice will introduce a tourist fee in 2024
Venice will begin charging tourists who visit for the day from 2024.
The fee has been delayed multiple times, but a 30-day trial finally looks set to happen over spring and summer weekends next year. Exact dates are yet to be confirmed.
The imminent tourist tax is “not a tool for making cash,” the city said in a statement.
Proceeds from the entry fees will go towards services that help the residents of the city, including through maintenance, cleaning and reducing living costs.
EU implements a tourist visa in 2024
Starting in 2024, non-EU citizens, including Americans, Australians, Brits and other travellers from outside the Schengen zone, will need to fill out a €7 application to get in.
Those under 18 or over 70 will not have to pay the fee.
The scheme was supposed to be enforced by November 2023 but has faced delays relating to the EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES).
These are all the countries where you already have to pay a tourist fee to get in
Many countries already have a tourist fee in place, for a variety of reasons.
For some, it’s to do with trying to curb the number of tourists and to prevent overtourism.
For others it’s almost like a sustainability tax on each visitor. The money from these taxes goes towards maintaining tourism facilities and protecting natural resources.
Austria
In Austria you pay an overnight accommodation tax, which varies depending on which province you’re in. In Vienna or Salzburg, you’ll pay an extra 3.02 per cent on the hotel bill per person.
The tourism levy is also known as Tourismusgesetz and Berherbergungsbeiträge.
Belgium
The tourist tax in Belgium is also applied to accommodation, for every night you stay there.
The fee is sometimes included in the room rate of the hotel but some separate the cost out and make it a supplemental charge, so you need to check your bill carefully.
Antwerp and Bruges charge a rate per room. The rate in Brussels varies depending on the hotel’s size and rating.
In general it’s around €7.50.
Bhutan
While most countries’ tourist fees are below around €20, Bhutan’s tax is sky high in comparison.
The minimum daily fee for most foreigners is: $250 (€228) per person per day during high season and slightly less in low season.
But it covers a lot, including accommodation, transportation in the country, a guide, food, and entry fees.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria applies a tourist fee on overnight stays.
It’s very low and varies depending on area and hotel classification – up to around €1.50.
Caribbean Islands
Most Caribbean islands have tourist taxes added to the hotel cost or a departure fee.
Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, the Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Bonaire, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and the US Virgin Islands all have some form of fee for visitors.
Fees range from €13 in the Bahamas to €45 in Antigua and Barbuda.
Croatia
Croatia raised its tourist tax in 2019. The increased rate only applies during peak season in the summer though.
Visitors pay around 10 kuna (€1.33) per person per night.
Czech Republic
You only need to pay a tourist fee in the Czech Republic when visiting the capital city, Prague.
It is very small (under €1) and paid per person, per night, up to 60 nights. The tax does not apply to children under 18.
France
There is a “taxe de séjour” to pay in France. It is added to your hotel bill and varies depending on which city you are in.
The rates range from €0.20 to around €4 per person, per night.
Tourist hotspots like Paris and Lyon use the money to maintain tourism infrastructure.
Germany
Germany has what they call a “culture tax” (a kulturförderabgabe), and also a “bed tax” (a bettensteuer), in cities such as Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Berlin.
The fee is around 5 per cent of your hotel bill.
Greece
The tourist tax in Greece is based on the number of hotel stars or number of rooms you’re renting. It can be anything up to €4 per room.
It was introduced by the Greek Ministry of Tourism to help cut the country’s debt.
Hungary
Tourist fees in Hungary only apply in Budapest.
Travellers have to pay an extra 4 per cent every night based on the price of their room.
Indonesia
Tourist taxes in Indonesia only apply in Bali.
In 2019, a new law states that overseas visitors to the Indonesian island must pay a fee in the region of €9.
Revenue from the tax reportedly goes towards programmes that help to preserve the environment and Balinese culture.
Italy
Tourist taxes in Italy depend on where you are. Venice may introduce its own tax in the summer of 2022.
Meanwhile, Rome’s fee ranges from €3 to €7 per night depending on the type of room, but some smaller cities charge more.
Japan
In Japan it comes in the form of a departure tax. Visitors to Japan pay 1,000 yen (around €8) as they leave the country.
The official tourism website claims this small tax makes “a significant difference” to the economy.
Malaysia
Malaysia’s tourist tax is a flat rate and applied per night you stay.
It’s not much more than around €4 a night.
New Zealand
Many tourists, people on working holidays, and some students and workers coming to New Zealand must pay an International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL) when they arrive.
But people from Australia are exempt.
It’s $35 New Zealand dollars which is around €21.
The Netherlands
The Netherlands has a land tourist tax and a water tourist tax.
In Amsterdam, this amounts to 7 per cent of the cost of a hotel room. It’s called toeristenbelasting.
Portugal
Portugal’s low tourist tax is paid per night per person and is only applicable to guests who are 13 and over.
It’s around €2 and currently applies in 13 of Portugal’s 308 municipalities, including the cities of Porto, Lisbon and Faro.
You only have to pay it on the first seven days of your stay.
Slovenia
The tourist tax in Slovenia varies based on location and hotel rating.
It’s slightly higher in larger cities and resort towns, including Ljubljana and Bled – around €3.
Spain
If you’re heading to Ibiza or Majorca, you’ll have to pay a tourist tax.
The Sustainable Tourist Tax, which applies to holiday accommodation on Spain’s Balearic Islands (Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, Formentera), also applies to each holidaymaker aged 16 or over.
During the high season, the tax can reach up to €4 per night.
Switzerland
The tourist tax in Switzerland varies depending on the location. The cost is per night and per person and is around €2.20.
Quotes for accommodation usually do not include the tourist tax – it is specified as a separate amount, so it’s easier to keep track of.
And it only applies to stays under 40 days.
USA
A hotel tax or lodging tax for travellers renting accommodation is charged in most of the United States. It’s also called an occupancy tax.
The fees apply at hotels, motels and inns. The highest rate is reportedly paid in Houston, with a 17 per cent tax on your hotel bill.
Author
British holidaymakers will soon be able to use e-gates at more EU airports, the UK government has announced.
It comes as part of negotiations between the UK government and the European Union to finalise a ‘post-Brexit reset deal’.
It means British passport holders will no longer have to wait at manned desks and will instead be allowed to use fast-track e-gates usually reserved for EU or European Economic Area citizens.
EU Relations Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said this would give British travellers “more time to spend on holiday or work trips […] doing what you want, not being stuck in queues.”
The UK government said the move would end “the dreaded queues at border control.”
UK travellers have to join ‘other nations’ queue at EU airports
Following Brexit, UK citizens forfeited their privileged status when travelling to EU countries.
They now fall into the ‘visa-exempt third-country nationals’ category – the same classification as travellers from dozens of countries, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Singapore.
This has meant British travellers must join the ‘other nations’ queue at border control rather than using the expedited EU lanes.
The requirement to check that British travellers meet entry conditions is a significant obstacle to allowing them to use the fast-track lanes.
EU border control has to verify that UK travellers are not in breach of the 90-day stay limit in 180 days and that they have the means to return to their country of origin, i.e. a flight ticket out of the EU.
Frontier officials must also stamp the passenger’s passport.
This change often translates to extended waiting times, especially at busy European airports like Amsterdam Schiphol, Milan Malpensa, and Paris Charles de Gaulle.
Waits exceeding an hour have become commonplace, especially when arriving shortly after large international flights.
These delays affect not only entry into EU countries but also departure, as British travellers must undergo exit checks that sometimes result in missed flights due to lengthy queues.
UK travellers will be able to use e-gates at many European airports
Under the new deal, British travellers will be able to take advantage of the faster e-gate passport checks at many EU airports.
No details have yet been released on when this will be introduced and where, although the BBC reported that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer “has called on all EU members to co-operate without delay.”
Some EU airports will likely allow UK travellers to use existing e-gates reserved for EU citizens, while others may install dedicated ‘third-country national’ e-gates.
The latter are already in place across Italy, including Venice Marco Polo and Rome Fiumicino, as well as at Amsterdam Schiphol and Lisbon.
With this system, once the traveller passes through the gate, there is a brief check by border officials who will also stamp passports.
Brits will use e-gates in all airports after introduction of EES
In addition, the UK government underlined that there will be “no legal barriers to e-gate use for British Nationals travelling to and from European Union Member States after the introduction of the European Union Entry/Exit System [EES].”
The EES is scheduled to come into force in October this year. The system will register non-EU visitors who don’t need a visa digitally, removing the need for physical stamps.
New pet passports will make it easier for Brits to bring pets into EU
The UK government also announced that new pet passports will be introduced as part of the deal.
This means UK cats and dogs will be able to travel “more easily” from the UK into the EU by “eliminating the need for animal health certificates for every trip.”
Author
Three people have been killed and several others injured after they were struck by lightning during a visit to Cambodia’s famous Angkor Wat temple complex.
They group had been seeking shelter around the main temple of the UNESCO site when the lightning strike happened late on Friday afternoon.
Video posted on social media showed two ambulances arriving in the aftermath and onlookers and site officials carrying some of the injured people and helping others out on foot.
Other images showed multiple people being treated in hospital.
The day after the incident, Cambodia’s Minister of Tourism Hout Hak issued a statement telling people to take down online posts about the incident, saying the spreading of “negative information” could harm the country’s tourism sector.
Authorities have released no information about the strike, but an official on Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, confirmed to the Associated Press that the three people killed were all Cambodian nationals.
The Cambodian Red Cross also posted an update saying it had delivered care packages to the families of two of the victims, a 34-year-old man and a 52-year-old woman.
The Red Cross refused to comment further by phone.
A spokesman for the Angkor Wat site did not respond to requests for comment, nor did a regional health official.
Angkor Wat is Cambodia’s best-known tourist attraction, attracting some 2.5 million visitors annually and is featured prominently on the country’s flag.
UNESCO calls the site, which sprawls across some 400 square kilometres and contains the ruins of Khmer Empire capitals from the 9th to the 15th centuries, one of the most important archaeological sites in Southeast Asia.
Cambodia has been actively developing the area to attract more visitors, including opening a new $1.1 billion (€890 million) Chinese-funded airport in nearby Siem Reap.
Its move to relocate some 10,000 families squatting in the Angkor Wat area to a new settlement has drawn widespread criticism from human rights groups and UNESCO itself has also expressed concern.
Cambodian authorities have said the families are being voluntarily relocated, but Amnesty International and other groups have questioned how voluntary those relocations have been.
Author
Tourists have been caught smuggling all kinds of stolen souvenirs home from holidays, from artefacts picked up in Pompeii to sand from Italy’s famous pink beach on the island of Sardinia.
The Belgian city of Bruges is the latest victim of keepsake crime, but the item visitors have taken a fancy to is unexpected.
The city council has reported the theft of dozens of cobblestones from the city centre, and suspects tourists are the culprits.
Tourists suspected of pilfering Bruges’ cobblestones
Bruges’ cobblestones are increasingly being pilfered from well-known spots in the UNESCO-designated historic centre, public property councillor Franky Demon reported this week.
“At iconic locations such as Minnewater, Vismarkt, Markt and Gruuthusemuseum, it is estimated that 50 to 70 pieces of cobblestone disappear every month. And that number could be even higher,” Demon told press.
“The phenomenon increases significantly, especially during busy tourist periods such as spring and summer,” he added.
For this reason, authorities suspect visitors are pocketing the stone as souvenirs.
‘Leave that cobblestone where it belongs’
As well as damaging a valuable part of the city’s heritage, the stolen stones have created safety issues.
The gaps from removed stones present trip hazards for pedestrians – and are costly to repair.
“It’s unfortunate that our employees constantly have to go out to fix potholes and loose stones. This causes a lot of additional work and costs: about 200 euros per square metre of reconstruction,” explained Demon.
The councillor urged visitors to respect the historical environment of Bruges.
“We simply ask for respect. Anyone walking through Bruges crosses centuries of history. Leave that cobblestone where it belongs,” he said.
Bruges’ cobblestones are apparently not the only sought-after street souvenir.
Along the famous Paris-Roubaix cycling route, tourists are known to pilfer parts of the pavement.
While Rome’s iconic ‘sampietrini’ – cobblestones made of solidified lava – have also disappeared into suitcases over the years.
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