Amsterdam announces increase in 2024 tourist tax
Since the end of the pandemic, travel is back in a huge way with people trying to catch up on what they missed over the past couple of years. While in most cases, this is good news for travel destinations, it has, however, led to overtourism.
Now, government officials in The Netherlands have announced a new tourist tax increase, set to take effect in 2024 in Amsterdam. This will make it the highest tourist tax in Europe.
About the new increased tourist tax
As reported by Dutch News, Amsterdam’s finance chief, Hester van Buren made the announcement last week. Basically, the tourist tax for overnight stays in Amsterdam will increase to 12.5 percent of the cost of the hotel room.
Officials in Amsterdam expect the increase in tourist fees for arriving visitors will result in a €65 million (around $68 million) bonus for the city’s economy. Meanwhile, the money is set to be used to pay for local services.
The finance chief explained that a tourist renting a hotel room for €175 ($183) per night will pay a fee of approximately €22 ($23) per day. This is quite a jump from the previous fee of €15 ($16).
“It is a balancing act and an estimate,” Van Buren said. “Of course, it would be good if the high tax helped against overtourism, but then you would also bring in less money.”
Increase in tourism for Amsterdam
Meanwhile, Van Buren says Amsterdam is working with other popular European cities experiencing overtourism, including Barcelona and Venice. Between them, they are working of measures to handle the high numbers of domestic and international visitors.
Venice is introducing a tourist tax for day-trippers in 2o24, and Van Buren explained that Amsterdam wants to do something similar, saying:
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.
Now summer is over, Europe is finally getting a chance to breathe following the record heat waves. However, with an unusually warm fall in some countries, there is little respite from the crowds.
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