by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 9:05 AM ET, Wed July 10, 2024
Travelers heading to Aruba by air will now have to pay a $20 entry fee ahead of their flights in a new rule begun July 1, 2024 in a new measure by the Aruba Tourism Authority.
According to Travel+Leisure, the fee will go towards sustainability upgrades for the island, including sewage water treatment plant upgrades and other important, and often less glamorous, infrastructure. This is in addition to the previous $3 environmental tax that travelers are required to pay.
The new Sustainability Fee, as it is called on Aruba’s official tourism website, will be charged online through the island’s Embarkation & Disembarkation (ED) Card platform. The website offers its services in English, Spanish and Dutch.
The fee cannot be paid on arrival. Travelers who do not pay the Sustainability Fee prior to checking in for their flights will not receive clearance to visit Aruba. You can pay the fee on the website up to seven days prior to entry. Those who visit Aruba more than once each year will only be required to pay the fee once.
Those exempt from the fee include children under eight years old, travelers heading to Aruba via cruise ship, Aruba residents and some Aruba students.
The island is the latest in a string of destinations—both cities and nations—beginning to take advantage of vast numbers of travelers to boost their income. Venice began charging an entry fee this spring as a way to curb the numbers of day-trippers to the popular Italian city, while the Galapagos Islands will begin charging $200 per adult traveler and $100 per child traveler on August 1.
Other destinations, like the overcrowded Swiss town of Lauterbrunnen and the country of Iceland, are also seriously considering or already planning to add tourist taxes or entry fees to both curb overtourism and fund sustainable development.
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