by Donald Wood
Last updated: 1:05 PM ET, Tue October 3, 2023
Government officials in The Netherlands revealed that the
new tourist tax increase scheduled to take effect next year in Amsterdam would make
the city’s fee the highest in Europe.
According to Dutch
News, Amsterdam finance chief Hester van Buren said last week that the tourist
tax on overnight stays in the city would increase to 12.5 percent of the cost
of the hotel room.
For the cruise industry, passengers will be forced to pay €11
($11.50) per person, an increase from the previous fee of €8 ($8.36). Van Buren
said the tourist tax increase would make it the “fourth highest in the world.”
Amsterdam officials predict the increase in fees for
arriving tourists would result in a €65 million (almost $68 million)
contribution to the city’s economy, with the money being used to pay for local
services.
Van Buren said a tourist renting a room for €175 ($183) a
night would pay a fee of around €22 ($23) per day, an increase from the
previous €15 ($16).
“It is a balancing act, and an estimate,” Van Buren told Dutch
News. “Of course, it would be good if the high tax helped against over-tourism,
but then you would also bring in less money.”
Tourism experts estimate that Amsterdam will welcome more
than 20 million visitors this year, but the city is considering tactics to combat
limit the number of people arriving and punish unruly tourists.
Van Buren said Amsterdam has also been working with other
cities experiencing overtourism—including Venice and Barcelona—regarding
methods and measures on how to handle the high number of domestic and foreign
visitors.
“We also have to deal with day trippers,” Van Buren continued.
“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.”
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