While the term “tourist tax” has been used to describe everything from the flat-out entry fees charged at the airport to taxes tacked onto hotel bills in a given city, the tax has become commonplace.
Most recently, the Italian canal city of Venice decided to bring back its day visitor fee for the upcoming 2025 season. The fee, paid by visitors coming to Venice for the day on certain peak spring and summer dates, will also double from five to 10 euros, or roughly $10.60 USD, as of current exchange rates.
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A tourist tax but make it linguistic: here’s the proposal
The more common way to implement a tourist tax is to tack it onto the bill for hotel or holiday rental property accommodations; such taxes exist in most European like Amsterdam and Valencia, as well as U.S. capitals like New York and Los Angeles (although it may be called by slightly different names, including “transient occupancy”).
The more common way to implement a tourist tax is to tack it onto the bill for hotel or holiday rental property accommodations; such taxes exist in most European cities popular with tourists like Amsterdam and Valencia as well as U.S. capitals like New York and Los Angeles (although it may be called by slightly different names, including “transient occupancy”).
Over in the United Kingdom, hotels do not have any additional taxes beyond what is levied on goods and services — something that Wales, a Celtic country to the southwest of England, is looking to change with a new tax of £1.25 ($1.58 USD) for each night visitors spend in a hotel or £0.75 ($0.95 USD) for hostels and campsites.
But while such taxes typically go toward preserving local historic sites and mitigating the impact of mass tourism, what has currently been proposed to Welsh lawmakers would, among other things, be used for the preservation of the Welsh language. While not officially listed as endangered (with over 880,000 residents able to speak it fluently, it is the most commonly spoken out of all Celtic languages), the number of speakers has seen a steep decline with younger generations.
The Welsh capital of Cardiff is home to 372,000 people.
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Mass tourism can erode the sustainability of communities and language
“Tourism in its current form is an extractive, uncertain and seasonal industry, which can erode the sustainability of our communities and our language,” Jeff Smith who chairs the Cymdeithas yr Iaith Communities Group representing the rights of the Welsh people and language, said in a statement. “These communities — often some of the poorest in Europe — face serious challenges from unsustainable tourism, such as housing unaffordability, lack of access to public services and short-term, low-paid employment.”
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Many questions around the bill remain before it will be put to a vote; there is also significant criticism from local hotel and tourist associations that believe it will discourage visitors to a part of the United Kingdom that already sees significantly lower tourist numbers than England and Scotland.
The tax would also not be mandated across the country but be left to individual municipalities to choose whether or not to introduce. One option that has been heard by the Welsh Parliament would have it in destinations that see more tourism, such as Cardiff and the seaside resort town of Tenby, but not in more remote and rural areas. If passed, the bill would start coming into effect in 2027.
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