Oslo (AFP) – Norwegian lawmakers approved Thursday the introduction of a tourist tax to help finance infrastructure improvements as a boom in visitors has led to worries about overtourism.
The law introduces a three percent tax on lodgings, and may also be applied to cruise ships making stops, in areas particularly affected by tourism.
The country registered last year a record 38.4 million night stays, including more than 12 million by foreigners, according to official data, as the country’s picturesque fjords attract more and more visitors.
However, public toilets and parking have been overwhelmed in some locations, causing tensions with local residents.
The funds raised by the tax will go exclusively to improve tourism infrastructure.
I touristed in Norway. The ferries don’t take cash, so you ride for free.
Kinda stupid of them.
Rich people remain unaffected.
Yeah that was my first thought. They need waiting list.
Rich people would still be unaffected.
Gotta kill rich people I guess. Sad days.
I really don’t understand tourist tax, the tourists are spending money just to be there, 12 million tourists? that’s 12 million people buying rooms / food / experiences / gifts & memorabilia, why add a tax on that??
Infrastructure can’t bear it, only so many people can fit in one place. Also, a lot of these people, especially on cruise ships, spend exactly zero money at the place they visit, as they have lodgings and food on the ship, and are only there to sightsee.
IDK about taxing lodgings, but maybe there are too many hotels for the place? I’d guess AirBnB made it impossible to regulate the market by controlling the amount of permits issued.
I think a small flat fee is usually better at solving this, as you would need to get rid of the people who visit but don’t pay, but that might be hard to implement if you can’t close the place off like you can in Venice for example.
I’d tax cruise ships based on the number of people coming off the ship. Those tourists usually contribute the least to the economy in comparison to visiting sites.
Tourism only benefits the owner class. It doesnt benefit the other 99% of the population. In fact it actually takes space and money away from citizens.
It depends on the location. Tourism does generate some employment; some cities have been built on tourism as a base. The problem is that most tourism jobs are low wage. However, if your region doesn’t have any other kind of economic engine, it may be the best thing to develop.
It’s because it’s too nice of a place. They should take inspiration from the US and make it horrible to exist in.
i can understand parking, but people are complaining about public toilets being overwhelmed?
A lot of the trips from things like cruise ships are organised, so a bus load of people will turn up somewhere all at once. Lots of places will have multiple cruises arriving at around the same time, and will have other organised trips too. If the toilets weren’t designed for that many people at once, you’ll get long queues, as well as needing more cleaning and maintenance.
You could build more toilets and hire more staff, but the money has to come from somewhere. Depending on the area, there might not be anything there that generates money either.
It’s a real shit show.
Europeans commoditize humans need to piss and shit. It’s one thing US Americans do better than EU
