BRITS have been warned a popular European vacation destination is set to hike their daily tourist charge – for the second time this year.
Holidaymakers travelling to Barcelona, in Spain, will see the tax raise once again from October.
The famous city announced their latest crack down on overtourism, in a fresh wave of measures.
As well as an increase on daily tourist charges, there will be a full ban on holiday apartments.
It comes after the cosmopolitan capital previously upped their traveller tax from €2.75 (£2.33) to €3.25 (£2.75) in April.
Now, holidaymakers will be forced to fork out €4 (£3.39) for city tax from October to enjoy the beauties Barcelona has to offer.
Regional tourist tax is charged measured where you’re staying.
A luxury hotel will set you back €3.50 (£2.96), while an Airbnb will only be €2.25 (£1.90).
Meanwhile, the city tax is flat rate charged per night, for up to seven nights.
This means from October, a tourist will have to pay a total of €52.50 (£44.43) to stay in a five-star hotel for a week.
The figure includes the €3.50 per night in regional tax, and €4 per night in city tax.
Meanwhile, a ban on short-term holiday rentals is due to be implemented in 2028.
It comes after the Barcelona city council vowed to promote “quality tourism”.
At present, around 32million holidaymakers arrive per year.
The boost in funds is also due to raise their annual income from €95 million (£80M) to €115 million (£97M).
This will be poured into city services and infrastructure to cope with the ever-growing tourist demand.
It comes after protests were held in Venice after the country imposed a similar fee on short stay visitors.
What is a tourist tax?
Source; commonslibrary.parliament.uk
- A ‘tourist tax’ – also known as a ‘transient visitor levy’ – is a fee applied to short-stay accommodation.
- They are often imposed in cities with strong tourist economies, in countries such as Canada, Spain, Germany, Belgium and France.
- A tourist tax normally takes the form of a charge per occupied bed or room per night, within short-term accommodation providers.
- The charge can be set at a flat rate or a series of flat rates (for example, €2 per bed per night), or it can be set as a percentage of the price of the bed or room.
- Tourist taxes are sometimes set at different rates for different times of the year.
- Some cities exempt, or give discounts for beds occupied by children or those travelling for medical reasons.
- Others impose different rates on campsites, bed and breakfasts, non-serviced accommodation, or hotels with different star ratings.
Day-trippers were charged €5 (£4.30) if visiting the historical Italian centre, the first to bill holidaymakers an entry fee, from late April until May 5.
Holidaymakers travelling to a major UK destination have been also warned they may have to pay a visitor tax.
A debate has been sparked over whether or not to introduce a tourist in Cornwall and Devon – but officials say they can “certainly envision” it implemented.
Similar talks have also been held in Cambridge, Edinburgh, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole as tourists continue to flood the popular hotspots.
Meanwhile, Manchester introduced their own tourist tax in April last year.
The new levy, the first in the UK, features a £1 charge per room per night, capped at 21 consecutive nights.
It is hoped the new tax, called the “City Visitor Charge”, will raise £3million a year for the city.
The tourist tax is also being imposed in the city of Portimão on Portugal’s Algarve coast.
Portimão’s Mayor Isilda Gomes said the tourist tax could raise “a few million euros” for the city.
All the countries that impose tourism tax
Tourist tax per person, per night
- Austria – €0.15 to 3.02% of the hotel cost per person, per night in Vienna.
- Belgium – Either €4 or €3 depending on accommodation
- Bhutan – Controversial $100 daily tourism fees
- Bulgaria – BGN 0.20 to BGN 3.00 for each night
- Croatia – Ranges from 20p to 70p per day
- Czech Republic – Around CZK 50 per night (around £1.71)
- France – Ranges from €0.65 to €14.95 depending on accommodation
- Germany – Standard tourist tax is five per cent of the accommodation price
- Greece – Between €1.50 and €10
- Hungary – An extra 4 per cent every night based on the price of their room
- Indonesia – IDR 150,000 per person, roughly equivalent to €9
- Italy – €1 to €5 per day per person.
- Japan – 1,000 yen per departure
- Malaysia – Fixed rate of RM10. 00 per room per night
- New Zealand – NZD$35 International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL) fee
- Portugal – €2.00
- Thailand – Tourists arriving by air pay THB 300 and those entering by land or sea pay a fee of THB 150
- The Netherlands – €3
- The United States – Varies per state, usually a few dollars per person per night
- Slovenia – € 3.13
- Switzerland – Around CHF 2.50