A new tourist tax in Bali. Higher hotel taxes in Amsterdam and Paris. Stricter rules on public drinking in Milan and Mallorca. Ahead of the summer travel season, leaders at many tourist spots have adopted measures to control tourist crowds, or at least get more revenue from them.
All of this can cause headaches for travelers, although in most cases, new fees or tax increases represent only a small fraction of the total cost of a trip. The goal is to ensure tourism runs smoothly for both visitors and locals, said Megan Epler Wood, managing director of the Sustainable Tourism Asset Management Program at Cornell University.
“All tourism depends on beautiful natural and cultural resources. These resources must be protected to be a viable tourist destination and if this is not done, they are degraded,” said Ms Epler Wood.
In some places, proposals for new fees or rules for visitors have drawn opposition from residents, who fear they could drive away tourists who boost the local economy. But destinations need to find ways to counter what Epler Wood calls “the invisible burden” of tourism, which includes strains on a community’s infrastructure, public services and housing stock, as well as the carbon footprint of tourists and any challenges they may impose on residents. ‘ daily life.
“So much pressure is put on the place that the people who live there become unhappy and then don’t present a very good face to tourists,” Ms Epler Wood said. “The longer you wait, the higher the cost will be to fix it.”
Here’s a look at what new measures travelers can expect this summer and what others might be implemented in the future.
New visitor rates
Since February, visitors to the Indonesian island of Bali have been asked to pay a tax of 150,000 Indonesian rupiah, or about $9.40 per visit. Proceeds will be used to support the preservation of the island’s cultural and natural assets, where tourism has posed significant challenges related to litter, water supply and overpopulation. Visitors are encouraged to pay the new fee online before departure, although it is also possible to pay upon arrival at the airport.
Starting August 1, most foreign travelers to the Galapagos Islands, which had a record 330,000 visitors last year, must pay a $200 entrance fee, double the current fee. Money raised will be used to support conservation, improve infrastructure and fund community programs.
The change is the first increase in the entrance fee since it was introduced in 1998, said Tom O’Hara, communications manager for the Galápagos Conservation Trust. Mr O’Hara noted that the increase comes a year after the UNESCO World Heritage Committee urged the government of Ecuador to work towards a “zero growth model” for tourism in the Galapagos.
“It’s a pretty complicated issue,” O’Hara said, noting that the fee increase has been seen “as part of the solution to overtourism.” On the other hand, he added, “everyone is trying to assure the local tourism industry that this is not going to kill tourism on the islands.
In April, Venice began imposing a fee (5 euros, about $5.40) on daytrippers visiting the country on peak days, aiming to achieve “a new balance between tourists and residents.”
But the new access fee to Venice has drawn criticism from residents. “This project is a disaster for us. “We are a city, not a park,” said Matteo Secchi, president of Venessia.com, an association of Venice residents. Secchi stated that a communications campaign would have been more effective.
The possibility of a new tourism fee has also generated local opposition in Hawaii, where Gov. Josh Green has proposed a “climate impact fee” for visitors to the state. The measure failed during a recent meeting of the state Legislature, but Governor Green has persisted in calling for visitors to help fund the state’s preparation for future climate crises.
“We have to grab this tiger by the tail,” he told reporters in May, adding that $25 per visitor could raise $250 million a year, which the state could use to protect against climate disasters, manage erosion, strengthen infrastructure and protect parks.
Hotel rates and other taxes increase
Hotel taxes, also known as occupancy or lodging taxes, are widespread in the United States and Europe, where they were on the rise during the decade before the pandemic. With tourism rebounding to pre-pandemic levels, several destinations have increased or adjusted the tax to capture more revenue.
Like Hawaii, Greece, which also suffered severe wildfires last summer, is looking to prepare against climate disasters and the government wants tourists to help foot the bill. Greece calls this charge a climate crisis resilience fee and it will be charged by accommodation providers. The tax will be higher from March to October, when it will reach a maximum of 10 euros per night in five-star hotels. The rate drops from November to February, and for lower star hotels. The tax replaces the previous hotel tax, which ranged between €0.50 and €4 per night.
In Amsterdam, the hotel tax, already one of the highest in Europe, rose to 12.5 percent from 7 percent on January 1. City lawmakers also increased the tax on cruise passengers to 14 euros from 11 euros per person per night.
The hotel rate in Barcelona also rose this year to 3.25 euros per night. The move was the latest step in a gradual increase that began before the pandemic. A spokesperson for Barcelona City Council stated that new tax increases would be directed at the rental of tourist apartments and cruise ships with short stops, which contribute less to the city’s income. The spokesperson also pointed out that the income generated by the tourist tax is used, among other things, to finance the installation of solar panels and air conditioning in public schools in Barcelona.
Ahead of this summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, lawmakers in the Île-de-France region have imposed a new tax on top of the normal hotel tax. With the new tax, which will finance public transport in the region, a guest of a five-star hotel now owes a total of 10.73 euros in tax per night of stay, while a stay in a two-star hotel generates a tax of 3.25 euros. per night.
Although the measure was adopted by the regional government, it did not have the support of the Paris leaders themselves. A spokeswoman for the Paris City Council called the measure “a democratic power grab” that “in no way benefits the city of Paris.” She noted that even with the funds generated by the new tax, the region increased the price of public transportation tickets in the city during the Olympics, a move that has dissatisfied many Paris residents.
Introducing new rules
In other tourist locations, the focus is on curbing behavior that pollutes the local environment or harms residents’ quality of life.
In Japan, Mount Fuji authorities will limit visitors to 4,000 per day. They also imposed a new fee of 2,000 yen (about $13) to access the iconic summit. Elsewhere in the country, a community council in the Gion neighborhood of Kyoto has closed some small streets to tourists, following complaints that the area, home to the city’s geisha district, was suffering from crowding.
“We will ask tourists to refrain from entering narrow, private streets starting in April,” Isokazu Ota, a prominent member of the community council, told Agence-France Presse in March. “We don’t want to do this, but we are desperate.”
A spokeswoman for the city’s tourism board described the road closures as “a local initiative,” adding that “neither Kyoto City nor the Kyoto City Tourism Association is aware of any details beyond what is reported in the media”.
Noisy behavior by visitors has been the subject of new rules in Milan. In some areas, city leaders have banned outdoor sitting after 12:30 a.m. during the week and 1:30 a.m. on the weekend in response to complaints from residents. They have also limited late-night sales of takeaway food and drinks.
And in certain areas of the Spanish Balearic Islands of Mallorca and Ibiza that are overrun by drunk tourists, the government has imposed a ban on late-night alcohol sales and street drinking. New restrictions have also been imposed on party boats in the same areas.
“Tourism has negative externalities that must be managed and minimized,” Marga Prohens, president of the Balearic Islands, said at a local meeting this month, according to The Majorca Daily Bulletin. Local tourism, she stated, “cannot continue to grow in volume.”
Paige McClanahan, a frequent contributor to the Travel section, is the author of “The New Tourist: Waking Up to the Power and Perils of Travel,” which will be published by Scribner on June 18.