Some of the most interesting tourist destinations in the world were not built for the number of tourists that flock to them every day. Even cities with mass bases are experiencing debilitating wear and tear. To combat the problem, the Washington Post reports that cities around the world are now imposing tourist taxes on foreign visitors to adjust their capacity. With the funds collected through this new system, cities will be able to adapt to tourism while keeping local people and natural habitats safe and protected.
For example, Mallorca's annual influx of 10 million new tourists (up from 6 million in 2010) has, far from causing overcrowding on the island, created a dangerous environmental crisis. Last year, the island introduced a tourist tax to help put money into local communities and protect and preserve the landscape. While such tourist taxes are already common in European countries such as France, Germany, Greece, Portugal, Switzerland and Romania, where they range from a few cents to $8 per night, cities around the world are looking into them. model and make plans to adopt it, in their own way.
According to the Washington Post , Waitangi, New Zealand, a city with a local population of only 2,000 people, attracts about 100,000 tourists every year. To avoid collapsing under growing tourism trends, they hope that by taxing them, they can make changes that will make them better suited to exponential increases in foot traffic and weathering. For Waitangi, foreign visitors will be required to pay a one-off fee of $25, which will ideally be used for everything from increasing hospital capacity to widening roads. According to the Independent , Venice, Italy will impose a tourist tax in May 2019, totaling approximately 3 euros per person.
Why is the price different? In short, what works for New Zealand may not work for Europe in terms of the same tax model. New Zealand can more easily control and identify which visitors are domestic and which are foreign, making taxation of foreign visitors clearer. For Europe, the situation is a bit complicated with such a wide range of unrestricted countries where tourists can easily move from an EU country to another. To address this potential problem, cities like Rome are currently trying to figure out how to collect taxes for residents of at least historic urban centers and even the greater European Union.
Next year, we can certainly expect more foreign cities to adopt tourist taxes, and they are likely to increase over time. While this tax sounds like a big deal, it essentially keeps these special places special. What's more, the tax is expected to flow directly back to locals, whose lives and businesses have been complicated by the boom and bust of tourism. To prevent what seems like an affordable vacation from turning into a pipe dream, there are a few adjustments you can make to keep costs down. Traveling in the off-season, avoiding all-inclusive resorts and shopping, and staying at local businesses whenever possible can help balance costs and taxes. As for how efficiently the funds raised are used, only time will tell how they will return to the community and environment.
