According to the city, which passed the bill Tuesday, Amsterdam will raise its city tourist tax to 12.5 percent in 2024. Travelers staying overnight or arriving on cruise ships will be subject to this.
“Visitors will thus help to pay for the City to carry out its tasks. This allows us to address the consequences of overtourism and direct additional resources to keep the streets clean and solving acute problems in neighborhoods and districts,” Hester van Buren, the deputy mayor for finance, said in a statement.
With an average nightly rate of €175 ($183.90), guests will pay an average tax of €21.80 ($22.91) per night, according to city data. Previously, the average tax was €15.25 ($16.03) per night. In addition, the daily fee for cruise passengers will increase from €8 ($8.41) to €11 ($11.56) per person.
“The tourist tax will be further increased to fund the extra spending so that visitors make a bigger contribution to the city,” the city wrote in a statement. “This will also help tackle overtourism and mean that the financial burden for Amsterdammers and Weespers will not increase.”
The decision to raise the tourist tax was part of an effort “to relieve the pressure on residents as much as possible in these financially challenging times” and not increase property taxes or parking fees.
DutchNews reports that the new increase will make Amsterdam the EU city with the highest tourist tax. Van Buren told the site that it is also the fourth-highest in the world.
Other cities, however, have higher fees. Honolulu, for example, imposes a 3.5% city fee in addition to a Hawaiian “Transient Accommodations Tax” of 10.25.
But Amsterdam is not the only city that relies on tourism to generate revenue. To further the nation’s sustainability and climate goals, Iceland plans to introduce a new tourist tax, and Venice intends to impose a fee on day visitors starting in 2024, in addition to the one it already charges overnight visitors.