COVID-19 literally is in the rear-view mirror for millions of travelers. After a rush to see new places and revisit old favorites as soon as coronavirus restrictions eased, travel now is returning to pre-pandemic normal.
Customers are going back to basics, looking for, as they did before the pandemic, for the most affordable, the lowest, the best price for their excursions, according to transportation officials worldwide.
But in some instances, they’ll still have to budget for added costs.
Barcelona, for example, plans to hike its tourist tax for cruise passengers visiting the city for less than 12 hours, Mayor Jaume Collboni said in a recent interview.
Collboni did not specify how much the tax in the Catalonian capital city would increase, but did say he would like to see it increase “substantially.” The current tourist tax for stopover cruise passengers is 7 euros ($7.61) per day.
Any tax increase would have to be approved by the Catalan regional government.
Tourist troubles: The reason for the hike is the same cited by other popular European tourist sites.
Tourists strain local services, often over-crowding areas and being disrespectful of local traditions and history. Subsequent repairs and continual maintenance then is paid for by fulltime residents.
The Spanish coastal city is just one locale where residents complain that tourists create more costs than benefits. Anti-tourism activists have staged protests in popular holiday destinations across the country, saying visitors drive up housing costs, making it more difficult for residents to live in city centers.
Venice ends temporary tourist tax: While some Spanish municipal leaders explore ways to limit or at least tax tourists to that country, one popular Italian tourist spot has ended its added fee.
Venice imposed a day-tripper tax on 29 days this year, mostly weekends and holidays, from April 25 through mid-July.
During that period, nearly 450,000 tourists paid the tax, raising some 2.2 million euros ($2.4 million), according to AP calculations based on data supplied by the city. Officials said the money would be used for essential services, which cost more in a city traversed by canals, including trash removal and maintenance.
But that money flow has ended. For now. A proposal to double the Venice visitors’ fee to 10 euros is being considered for next year.
That is not a done deal, though. Critics say increasing the tourist tax will turn Venice into a museum.
Others are concerned about the system of electronic and video surveillance that the city introduced in 2020 to monitor cell phone data of people arriving in the city, which is the backbone of the system to control tourism. They worry that it will be used to gather data on residents.
If you’re still making international travel plans, check out this roundup of what you’ll have to pay to visit some of the world’s popular tourist destinations.
You also might find these items of interest:
- Include taxes in your travel budget
- Pay your taxes if you're planning a trip abroad
- Amsterdam's tourist taxes likely headed higher
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