Iceland plans to introduce tourism tax this year
Visitors to Iceland will soon have to fork out a fee in order to enter the country, as a new tourism tax is on the cards this year.
TOURISM TAX TO BE IMPLEMENTED IN ICELAND
The Icelandic government recently revealed plans to charge international tourists a tax to visit the nation.
The tourism tax comes as part of efforts to support climate change as well as sustainability goals, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
ALSO READ: MSC Cruises opens up sales for 2024/25 SA cruise season
In a recent TV interview on Bloomberg, whilst attending the United Nations Climate Ambition Summit 2023 in New York City, Iceland’s Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir, said that the fee tax will not be high one.
“Tourism has really grown exponentially in Iceland in the last decade and that obviously is not just creating effects on the climate.” Jakobsdóttir said in the interview.
“We have announced that we are putting increased taxes on tourism in Iceland. Not high taxes to begin with, but we are talking about city taxes, etcetera, for people who stay in Iceland.” Jakobsdóttir added.
ALSO READ: Popular destinations: Where South Africans are travelling to in 2024
It has not yet been revealed how much the tax will be, but it is said it will come into effect sometime in 2024.
TAXES ON THE RISE
Tourism taxes or tourist levies have shown an increase in the past year, with a number of countries announcing higher fees for tourists.
But what has brought this about?
As reported by Travel News, “Tourism Taxes by Design”, a white paper by Group NAO and the Global Destination Sustainability Movement, explains that tourist taxes established in the past decade have aimed to regulate overtourism and regenerate popular tourist destinations.
ALSO READ: WEATHER: Extremely hot and uncomfortable conditions expected in parts of SA
According to this paper, the fees that are collected from tourists are used to fund the restoration of cultural heritage sites, help in the development of tourism infrastructure, nature preservation and even compensation for residents for different forms of pollution.
ALSO READ: Travelling soon? Get your passport sorted at these SA banks