Italy Mulling Hike in Tourist Tax in Bid to Combat Overtourism

Italy is planning to introduce a new tourist tax ahead of the 2025 jubilee year, which is expected to draw an unprecedented number of tourists to the country. The Italian government is discussing a new proposal that seeks to increase taxes between €5 and €25 per night for tourists based on the accommodation they would reserve during their trips.

If their accommodation costs them less than €100 per night, tourists will have to pay €5 extra in taxes, while this tax will be increased up to €10 if the accommodation costs between €100 to €400 per night.

Similarly, this tax will be raised to €15 per night for hotel rooms costing between €400 and €750. Tourists choosing ultra-luxury accommodation options that cost over €750 per room per night will have to pay €25 extra in taxes.

The introduction of new taxes would essentially increase the cost of Italian trips significantly for people coming to the country for long trips. The government is also planning to direct the money collected from new taxes to tackle the challenges that come with increased tourism, including but not limited to garbage collection.

More than 32 million people are likely to travel to historical Rome during the holy Christian year of 2025, but the introduction of new taxes can force many potential visitors to reconsider their plans or shorten their trips.

Rome is also investing huge sums of money in renovating its infrastructure before the busy year ahead to deal with the unprecedented influx of tourists.

Reportedly, Italian authorities have already poured in billions of euros to revamp tourist destinations, parks, transportation centers, and other such facilities in order to make them able to deal with the upcoming wave of tourists.

Almost 3,200 construction projects are currently underway in Rome to upgrade public facilities. However, these projects have also increased the suffering of locals, who continue to wait long hours in traffic jams.

The Italian city of Venice recently completed a trial tax project on tourists and raised nearly  €2.2 million. Although the trial project is being branded as a big “failure” by critics, the government is planning to double this tax amount for the 2025 jubilee year tourism.

Meanwhile, the new tax proposals are facing severe scrutiny from trade associations and business groups that make big profits during the tourism season.

Italy’s tax hikes come at a time when other European countries are also either planning or already launched such taxes. For instance, Greece brought new taxes for overnight stays during the peak tourism season from March to October to combat damages wrecked by extreme weather events. However, Greece’s new tax per room per night is comparatively lower than what Italy is planning to introduce.

Tunisia, which is the second closest African country to Europe, where tourists come in large numbers for Mediterranean Sea tourism, also raised its overnight stay taxes.

The largest canary island of Spain, Tenerife, has also brought new tourism taxes after rising protests from locals, although the specific amount of taxes is yet to be disclosed.