Travel
Bali’s new tourist tax starts this week: Where else will you have to pay to enter in 2024?
From Venice to Bali, fees are being introduced to try and combat overtourism.
Overtourism could have been 2023’s word of the year in the travel industry.
News of the negative impacts of too many tourists was everywhere. The world’s most popular destinations, like Venice, Barcelona and New Zealand, are struggling to keep visitor numbers under control.
What is the problem with overtourism? Well, local residents suffer as property becomes unaffordable due to landlords buying up holiday lets. Authorities struggle to manage the rubbish left behind by tourists, and pollution contributes to the climate crisis.
One tactic that destinations are banking on, literally, is tourist taxes: fees that visitors have to pay, on top of the usual expenses like accommodation and food.
This is not a new concept, of course. If you’ve travelled abroad, you’ve likely paid a tourist tax before. You may never even have noticed it – as it’s sometimes worked into airline tickets or the taxes you pay at your hotel.
Read on for the places that introduced tourist taxes in 2023, and those that are to come in 2024.
Barcelona is increasing its tourist tax (again) in 2024
In 2022, city authorities announced that Barcelona’s tourist tax would be increased over the next two years.
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 2023, city authorities increased the municipal fee to €2.75.
A second increase will happen 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 will 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 will introduce a tourist tax for travellers staying in all types of accommodation in the region, including hotels, hostels, apartments and campsites.
Officially called the Valencian Tax on Tourist Stays (IVET), it will come into effect in 2024, though an exact date has not been announced yet.
Visitors will have to pay between 50 cents and €2 per night depending on their chosen accommodation, for up to seven nights. Cruise ship passengers will pay €1.50 per day.
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 is 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 on 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).
Bali: Tourist tax to be introduced in February 2024
Known as the Land of the Gods, Bali attracts visitors from all over the world to its beaches, islands and spiritual culture.
But tourism also means problems and Bali is hoping to solve some of these with a new tax that must be paid to enter the country.
From 14 February 2024, international and domestic arrivals will have to pay a fee of IDR 150,000 (€8.80). This will need to be paid at special booths at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport. Authorities have promised the process will take less than 30 seconds.
They said the proceeds will go towards projects that ‘preserve the environment, nature and culture as well as improving quality’ of Bali.
Is Thailand introducing a tourist fee in 2024?
Back in 2022, it was rumoured that a tourist tax would be introduced in June 2023. This didn’t happen, then the next deadline of October didn’t happen either.
and there have been no confirmed plans for 2024, either.
Airlines and airline-representing bodies are said to have challenged the fee.
When it was first rumoured, it was said the tax would be 300 Baht (€8).
In 2022, the governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand told Reuters news agency 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’s tourist tax: When will visitors have to pay to enter in 2024?
Venice‘s tourist tax has been the subject of much debate and delays. The city is one of the most overtouristed in Europe, forcing locals out of the city centre’s narrow and crowded streets.
It is now confirmed that the lagoon city will trial an entry fee for part of 2024.
Visitors will have to pay a fee of €5 to enter on peak weekends and other days between April and mid-July – 29 days in total.
The day-tripper fee will be in force during peak hours (8.30 am – 4 pm), meaning visitors who come into Venice for dinner or a concert won’t have to pay.
The entry fee aims to reduce crowds, encourage longer visits and improve quality of life for residents.
Proceeds from the entry fees will go towards services that help the residents of the city, like maintenance, cleaning and reducing living costs.
Read this article for full details on Venice’s tourist tax.
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: Higher tourist tax in Paris thanks to the 2024 Olympics
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.
In anticipation of the 2024 Olympics, the tourist tax on hotel rooms have increased by 200 per cent, as of January 2024.
Depending on the type of accommodation, the fee ranges from €0.75 to €15 per night.
Germany
Germany has what they call a ‘culture tax’ (‘kulturförderabgabe’), and also a “bed tax” (a bettensteuer), in cities including 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.
Italy
Tourist taxes in Italy depend on where you are. In Sicily, fees range from €1 to €3 per night.
Whereas, 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 about €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 currently amounts to 7 per cent of the cost of a hotel room. It’s called ‘toeristenbelasting’.
In 2024, it will rise to 12.5 per cent, making it the highest tourist tax in Europe. It will apply to cruise passengers and overnight visitors alike.
Portugal
Portugal’s low tourist tax is paid per person per night 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
Want to explore France by train this September? Look out for these cheap ticket sales.
Sad to see the end of summer? September is still a great time for a train adventure thanks to extended deals from French national rail operator SNCF.
Throughout the month, its ‘Les Jours Traincroyables’ campaign promises to “extend the summer” with a series of ticket offers on Intercités, Ouigo, TER and TGV INOUI trains.
Various flash sales are planned until 30 September offering discounted journeys on regional and longer distance high-speed services.
To secure cheap train travel in France and beyond, here are the dates to put in your calendar.
Flash sales on French trains this September
SNCF Voyageurs’ month of discounts kicks off with a Ouigo flash sale on 4-5 September. It will see 200,000 tickets on the operator’s classic and high-speed trains sold for a maximum of €19 each.
The high-speed train service offers low-cost travel throughout France and onward to destinations in Spain.
Stay on alert from 10-13 September, when 30,000 tickets between Normandy and Paris costing no more than €12 will be released in the Nomad Train Flash Sale.
Cheap tickets (between €3 and €13) will also be available in the eastern region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, and to or from Paris, all month long.
Further west, under-26-year-olds can take advantage of €4 to €15 tickets for travel in Brittany, while down south in Nouvelle-Aquitaine under-28s can travel for just €2.
Heading to the northern Hauts-de-France region? Here, bargain €2 train tickets have no age limit – and 5,000 of them will be released each day throughout September.
To catch the end of the green season in the mountains, travel on Saturdays for a 40 per cent group discount on TER Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes trains.
Cheap train travel in Europe this September
The train ticket deals aren’t limited to French destinations. Between 18-29 September, you can discover Europe thanks to €39 tickets with TGV INOUI and TGV Lyria.
TGV INOUI operates high-speed trains to over 200 destinations in France and Europe, including in Germany, Italy and Spain, while TGV Lyria operates between France and Switzerland.
A further sale on TGV INOUI and Intercités trains from 23-27 September will offer tickets from €19 to €29, with an upgrade to first-class costing just €1 extra.
For cheaper train travel in Europe all year round, take advantage of the Carte Liberté, which offers fixed rate discounts to frequent travellers and is currently available at up to €80 off.
Author
A recent study has found that flights are safer than they’ve ever been.
There’s a one in 13.7 million chance that a passenger anywhere in the world will die onboard an aircraft, according to a new study.
Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US analysed global passenger and fatality data between 2018 and 2022 and found deaths on planes dropped by an average of 7 per cent year over year.
Those results follow a pattern of “continuous improvement” that started in 1968 when the death rate fell an average of 7.5 per cent per year even as more flights took off and landed.
It comes as US aircraft manufacturer Boeing faces a series of technical issues that forced the company to ground the test flights of their 777-9 model. The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) also reportedly has launched inspections into the 787 Dreamliner due to faulty pilot seat movements.
Death rate 36 per cent higher in some countries
The incident rate depends on what countries people are flying to and from, with researchers dividing countries into three tiers for low, medium and high risk based on air safety record.
The lowest risk is the Tier 1 group which includes the European Union, Australia, Canada, China, Israel, Japan, Montenegro, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Some examples of countries in the Tier 2 group include Bahrain, Bosnia, Brazil, Brunei, Chile, Hong Kong, India, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.
The rest of the world’s countries are in Tier 3 or the high-risk group.
For the first two tiers, the death risk falls to one per 80 million passenger boardings, the study found. These countries account for more than half of the world’s 8 billion people.
“At that rate, a passenger could on average choose one flight at random every day for 220,000 years before succumbing to a fatal accident,” the report continued.
The fatality risk is around 36 per cent higher for tier 3 countries, the study found, but fatalities are still falling.
“While [these nations] continue to get better over time, their passenger death risk remains many times as high as the risk elsewhere,” the study says.
The study also didn’t include any accidents that were direct attacks on passengers, like a suicide bombing at Kabul airport in 2021 that killed 170 Afghans and 13 US military troops.
Over 4,000 deaths from catching COVID on a plane
The study accounts for the COVID-19 pandemic which they defined as the period from March 2020 to December 2022. While there were fewer airline passengers during the pandemic, those who travelled faced a “new source of danger” if exposed to the virus on a flight.
Airlines at the time told passengers that COVID-19 transmission was “all but impossible,” the researchers say in their study, even though the US surgeon general estimated that 96 per cent of flights during that time had at least one positive passenger.
Despite that new risk, researchers say that there “is no evidence that those who did fly suffered a greater risk of death from plane crashes or attacks than would have been expected had the pandemic never occurred”.
“Outside of on-board transmission of COVID-19, passenger safety did improve sharply,” the study said.
In total, the paper estimates that roughly 4,760 people died from contracting a COVID-19 infection on a flight from March 2020 to December 2022.
The MIT researchers do admit that it’s hard to know the exact number of deaths since passengers who got an infection after a flight could’ve passed it on to others who might have passed away.
“These estimates about COVID-19 deaths are necessarily imprecise,” the study says. “And while they use lower-end parameter estimates, they could well be too high”.
Their data also doesn’t count any passengers under 18 and doesn’t differentiate the age of any passengers over 65, which the researchers say is important because mortality goes sharply up for the elderly.
Author
In northwestern Spain, villagers blocked zebra crossings to protest too many tourists – but ended up causing a huge traffic jam.
Spain has seen many overtourism protests this year, but one small village has been making its grievances known in a very unusual way.
In the Galician village of O Hío in northwest Spain, locals took it upon themselves to protest against the volume of tourists by blocking zebra crossings.
Walking up and down them for a total of 37 minutes, they caused total traffic gridlock – worsening the exact problem they hoped to highlight.
Nevertheless, residents stand by their decision.
Why are Spanish locals blocking zebra crossings?
“Traffic problems are already common, but this year they have tripled at least,” resident Mercedes Villar told local newspaper La Voz de Galicia. “It’s an avalanche of cars that not only pollutes but also affects everyone’s lives because they park wherever they want. We have the right to live too.”
Locals from the small coastal village say, while they’re not against tourism per se, they want authorities to find a mutually beneficial solution so that residents and visitors can co-exist happily.
They say their driveways are being blocked, traffic accidents are increasingly common and that parking-controlling yellow lines are being ignored.
“The protest was meant to raise awareness and sound the alarm,” another villager told La Voz. “We want people to be civil and understanding and, if they see that there is no parking space, to leave, as we all have to do in any city.”
Rogue parking by tourists creates ‘danger’ for locals
Villar, who is the spokesperson for the residents’ association, added that while locals tend to park their cars properly, visitors who don’t are creating “a situation of insecurity and danger”.
Villagers raised concerns that the situation causes access problems for emergency vehicles, citing residents who needed to be collected by ambulance, but found the exits from their houses blocked or their transport delayed due to the sheer number of vehicles on the streets.
Speaking to La Voz, Villar added that the significant amount of traffic had led to “uncivil” behaviour, including visitors littering the roads and parking areas.
She also says that too much traffic has led to the deterioration of some roads. “We want orderly and polite tourism that respects the environment. This is a paradise, but paradises also get ruined,” she said.
Locals have been invited to discuss their complaints
Like many Spanish people protesting against overtourism, Villar believes that the growing popularity of her local area has a lot to do with social media’s impact.
“This is sold as a beautiful place with no people, but now that is not true,” she explained, adding that residents tend to avoid beaches during tourist season as they are simply too busy.
She hopes that the zebra crossing protests will have laid bare how “annoyed” locals are with the situation.
It seems to have worked – in response, the local council has invited disgruntled locals to a meeting to discuss their complaints later in September.
From Cantabria in the north to Málaga in the south, growing numbers of Spanish people are calling for the government to change the face of mass tourism, which they believe is getting out of hand.
They say its impact is having a negative effect on property prices and rents as well as standard of living for residents.
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