24 | BREAKING DOWN THE TOURIST TAX Beat the Tourist Tax
BY ERIN ENGLISH
erin@nitravelnews.com
LONG established in European destinations such as Greece, Spain and Germany, the requirement to pay tourist tax is not a new-found regulation in the landscape of travel. However, since the pandemic, a range of countries have updated regulations to implement taxes on tourism.
Typically introduced to help boost a country’s economy, improve infrastructure and reinvigorate locals, the majority of taxes on tourism go unnoticed with the added tax being incorporated into the cost of accommodation, increasing the cost of an overnight stay within specific cities. However, with a range of destinations now citing concerns with overtourism, these taxes may become noticeable when booking a holiday. Increasingly,
more European
destinations are beginning to make moves to increase levies and charges on tourists. Countries such as Spain, France, Italy, and Greece are seeking to combat overtourism by increasing taxes on overnight stays, with costs ranging from the lowest charge of €0.50 in Greece to the highest charge of €14.95 in Paris per person per night. Tourist tax can present itself in many different forms, ranging from per person, per night, a percentage of the accommodation, and also in more recent cases as a one off-payment upon your arrival into a country. More recently,
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countries have been implementing a tiered system for taxation, implementing a higher tax on tourists who opt for 5-star and luxury properties. To avoid any surprise charges when booking your next getaway, keep in mind these destinations that have introduced a tourist levy or updated fees for travellers in 2025. From 2024 until 28th July 2025, day visitors to Venice were required to pay a €5 entry fee to enter into the city between 8:30am and 4:00pm. The entry fee was available to pay and book online, however with a stipulation that if the fee was purchased within three days of your arrival to Venice, visitors were
required
to pay double. This fee was imposed in a bid to tackle overcrowding throughout Italy’s floating city. While the Venetian authorities implemented this charge as a ‘trial period,’ the access tax is expected to be implemented in future during peak
seasons. Overnight Visitors were exempt from this payment,
with overnight
visitors levy charged within the price of their accommodation, ranging from the cost of €1-€5. More recently, the Greek government introduced the Climate Crisis Resilience Fee which can see a fee ranging from €0.50 up to €10 per room, per night, depending on the hotel category and the time of year. Following the protocol of monitoring tourist levies via the grading of accommodation, the French government introduced a charge on visitors with cost depending on the chosen accommodation accreditation.
Visitors choosing to stay
in one or two star campsites are charged at a rate of €0.65 per person, per night with the highest levy charged at €14.95 per person, per night for visitors staying in palace style accommodation. Four star hotels, and other similar accommodation
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gradings are charged at roughly €8 per person, per night. Germany’s capital, Berlin has also introduced an increase in city tax meaning that visitors must now pay 5% of the room price, this is not inclusive of VAT and service charges. Prague has followed suit, with tourist tax increased from 21 to 50 CZK each day, with the government highlighting that this increased fee will help to compensate for costs associated with tourism and benefit the city’s overall income. In Barcelona, the existing tourist
fee for those staying in official accommodation is priced at €3.25, a cost which has risen from €2.75 within recent months. Similar to Berlin, visitors to Budapest are now charged an extra 4% each night, based on the price of the room. This fee only applies within Hungary’s capital city.
September/October 2025
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