The already “incredibly expensive” country for tourists may become even more expensive: Norway is discussing the introduction of a tourist tax for tourists. It should be noted that the country is visited annually by about 10 million tourists, the main tourist attractions are fjords, islands, and wildlife, as well as tours to “transported” islands. It is the desire to preserve pristine nature that the government explains the idea of introducing a new tax on tourist activities.
According to the local agency NTB, as part of the agreement, the government will propose to introduce a tax on tourism in 2024. This policy will be included in the 2024 budget, which will be presented next autumn. There are no details yet, the tourism tax discussion is at an early stage and the government is “exploring options”, experts add.
“We need to explore all options and see how such a tax can be developed both practically and legally. But the idea is to give local people more opportunities,” commented Lars Vangen, State Secretary of the Ministry of Finance. The tax may come in the form of payment by tourists of an additional tax to hotels, souvenirs, and tourist activities.
The expert also explained that one of the reasons for the tourist tax is that many tourist attractions are located in small local authorities, where municipalities spend huge sums of money every year to maintain attractions, maintain main walking routes, and fight against pollution and pollution.
We would like to remind you that another tourist tax may be more relevant for tourists: the Turkish authorities refuse to postpone once again the introduction of the tourist accommodation tax, which should be introduced from January 1. The “cry” of tourism, calling for the measure to be postponed for another year “in connection with the serious problems experienced by the tourism sector”, was not heard. At least, judging by the publications in the Turkish tourism media, the relevant minister of tourism “redirected” the responsibility, reminding again that a similar tax exists in many countries of the world, and also called on hotel owners not to get rich, because for 2022, “their indicators turned out to be the best.” The tax – roughly 2% – is planned to be levied on any type of tourist accommodation, from a luxury villa to a camping tent. “Accommodation tax will be collected from such facilities as hotels, motels, summer cottages, boarding houses, apart-hotels, thermal facilities, guest houses, mountain houses,” experts list. It will also include some of the additional services offered by accommodation. Read other details here.