Amsterdam will have the highest tourist tax in the EU from next year, according to the city’s finance chief.
Hester van Buren told Dutch News that the popular destination is planning to hike taxes for tourists and cruise ship passengers.
Under the proposed plans, tax on overnight stays will rise to 12.5 percent of the cost of the hotel room. This means tourists staying in luxury accommodation would pay the highest fee.
Tourists would pay 12.5 euros (£10.81) per night on a room costing 100 euros (£86.50). Van Buren said the tax would be the fourth highest in the world.
Cruise ship passengers would also be hit by a rise in taxes. They’d have to pay 11 euros (£9.52) per person rather than eight euros (£6.92) under the new plans.
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Van Buren said money raised from the taxes would be used to pay for services for local residents rather than put tourists off visiting.
She said: “It is a balancing act. Of course it would be good if the high tax helped against overtourism, but then you would also bring in less money.”
The finance chief told the outlet she had been speaking to officials in other cities struggling with overtourism including Barcelona and Venice. Barcelona is one of Europe’s most visited cities.
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Van Buren added: “We also have to deal with day trippers. Of course, you can’t put up turnstiles so no one can get into the city, but we are going to look at ways of making day visitors pay some sort of city tax.”
Amsterdam is aiming to deter partying tourists from visiting its red light district and cannabis coffee shops.
The city also has plans to move its red light district to an ‘erotic centre’ outside of the city centre.
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While Amsterdam’s proposed tax would be the highest in the EU, it wouldn’t be the world’s most expensive. Bhutan, one of the world’s least visited countries, charges a huge fee to visiting tourists.
Tourist taxes are fairly common across Europe and tourists will pay to stay in several Spanish and French cities.
Manchester became the first English city to charge a tourist tax earlier this year but several other destinations including St Ives have considered it.
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