Planning a trip to Amsterdam? Travelers will need to budget a little more for accommodations starting January 2020.
By: Heather Newgen | Twitter: @hnvoluntourist
In an effort to combat overtourism, Amsterdam is raising the tourist tax. The Dutch capital will add a fee of €3 per person , which averages to about US$3 — per night for hotel stays.
That’s in addition to the 7% of the room rate it currently charges.
Children under the age of 16 are exempt from the new Amsterdam levy, and campsites will charge €1 per adult. Airbnb and rental properties are also getting a price hike. The existing tax will be raised to 10% of your rental.
Tim Fairhurst, director of policy for the ETOA (European Tourism Association), told CNN: “It will likely make Amsterdam’s the highest overnight tax in Europe, on average.”
The city has been severely impacted by mobs of overzealous tourists and the Netherlands is taking action.
Netherlands tourist officials recently took the bold decision to stop advertising the country as a tourist destination. Their “Perspective 2030″ report revealed that the priority will now be on “destination management” rather than “destination promotion.”
18 million annual visitors travel to the Amsterdam and authorities have taken additional measures such taking down the “iamsterdam” sign — a former selfie spot — outside the Rijksmuseum in December 2018 and announcing a ban of “disrespectful” tours of the popular tourist drawn red light district in March 2019.
CNN reports a spokesperson for Amsterdam city council denied that the raised taxes were planned to deter tourists, calling it a point of “principle” to make visitors pay their way in the city.
“Visitors will contribute more to the high costs of keeping the city safe and clean, and of keeping the public space like pavements, quays, bridges and streets, in a good state,” the spokesperson said.
Venice is another European city that is fighting overtourism and has recently announced its own plans to charge tourists a day fee to enter the popular destination.
In comparison, the tourist tax for Paris, ranges anywhere from €0.20 (for 1- and 2-star campsites) to €4 (for palaces) per person, per night. Berlin charges a 5% tourist tax and Rome currently has the highest fixed price tax in Europe, at €7 per person per night in a five star hotel.