You may want to include banks and traders as well. My VISA debit card is frequently not accepted, arbitrarily I should say.
The other day I experienced age discrimination when I wanted to rent a van. Sorry, not for you, Sir.
Scandalous Dachs, how many more taxes are they going to invent…
Inevitably it’s always the customer who ends up paying so it affects the local economy, when that lost customer would be paying so many more taxes on the food and drink they buy, the fuel for their vehicle, and the many other attractions they visit.
It will all have a knock on effect. Of course it won’t affect the people who think these taxes up…Because our taxes keep them in a job.
Is smoking actually allowed in pubs? There was a huge public outcry when such a ban was introduced many years ago expecting the worst to happen. Nothing did. Similar reaction to the bed tax. The same with a tax on kerosene. People just keep travelling.
We have accommodation tax, it was reintroduced in 2011 after being abolished in late 80s, the percentage rate differs all over the country, it’s set by the local council, it depends also on the category of the hotel, B&B, etc.
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Tourist tax per night is a very common charge in many countries - certainly it used to be in many states in the US as a simple flat fee per hotel room night. Edinburgh is confirmed as introducing this in June this year. In fact it more common than you might think - see below.
It is probably quite simple to collect. From hotels it is simply an additional line item on your bill. For rentals the booking system will collect it. For years now, Airbnb collects local taxes in many countries. This is mandatory and enforced. The Airbnb system is linked to the countries tax office and linked to the rental owners tax code.
I surprised at the many alarmist comments so far on this thread. It surely is a non-issue and a good way to get tourists to contribute more to the place they visit. This is especially true for house and apartment rentals that have become a problem in some cities. Such a tax addresses the issue of tourists taking advantage of amenities in that city (transport, parks, roads, etc.) but not really contributing to their upkeep or operation.
Anyway - list of tax per country.
- Austria: the cost of tourist tax is typically added onto your accommodation bill, and is around 3.2 per cent in Vienna
- Belgium: in Brussels tourist tax is around €4, and is added onto your accommodation bill, but it varies from city to city
- Bhutan: until September 2027, the Daily Sustainable Development Fee in Bhutan has dropped to around £7.50
- Bulgaria tourist tax in Bulgaria varies on destination and hotel standard, but it is usually around £1.30
- Caribbean Islands - most of the Caribbean islands charge tourist tax, and the price ranges depending on the island – in St Lucia, for example, it is around $3 to $6, whereas in the Dominican Republic it is higher but usually incorporated into package holidays and airline fees
- Croatia: the cost of tourist tax in Croatia depends on the season you are travelling in and where you are staying, but the average is around €1 per adult traveller per day
- Czech Republic: in Prague, tourist tax typically costs around CZK 50 per night (around £1.71)
- France: here tourist tax is based on the level of accommodation, and ranges from less than one Euro for campsite stays to more than 15 Euros for ‘palace hotel’ stays
- Germany: it varies from city to city – in Berlin, the standard tourist tax is 7.5 per cent of the accommodation price
- Greece: the price you pay in Greece depends on the standard and size of your accommodation. It recently changed from a generic tourist tax to a more specific ‘climate tax’, making it clearer where travellers’ money is going, costing up to €8 besides other fees incorporated into hotel bills
- Hungary: travellers should expect to pay a set fee of just over £2 per person per night for a maximum of six nights in Budapest. The fee does not apply to children aged under 18
- Indonesia: as of 2024, travellers have to pay 150,000 rupiah (around £7.60) upon entering Bali
- Japan: if you travel to Japan, expect to pay 1,000 yen (about £5.30) in tourist tax; early talks suggest this could increase fivefold in the coming years. Things may vary from city to city, with Kyoto’s tourist tax recently confirmed to rise from around £5 a day to almost £50 a day from March 2026
- Malaysia: the cost of tourist tax across Malaysia is roughly £1.70 per night
- Portugal: charges tourist tax in many cities and regions, including Lisbon and Porto. The cost can vary slightly between locations and the low and high (summer) seasons
- The Netherlands: the amount of tourist tax differs per municipality. Amsterdam is one of Europe’s most expensive places for tourist tax – in 2024, the rate was increased from seven per cent to 12.5 per cent of the accommodation price
- Switzerland: the price of tourist tax here varies depending on the destination, and it ranges from about CHF 2 (£1.81) to CHF 7 (£6.34) per person per night
- Slovenia: again, the rate changes from destination to destination (it is higher in cities than in more rural areas), but generally the cost is around €3
- Spain: several cities in Spain have recently decided to raise the price of tourist tax, and other cities are in discussions about following suit. In Barcelona, the fee is a maximum of €7.50, whereas in the Balearic Islands the fee is between €1 and €4
Actually although it’s great that they banned smoking, the ban had a hugely detrimental effect on pubs. Overnight they started to see a fall in business. That has never recovered.
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in the UK there’s no indication that this will go to the running of local services. My council is running a campaign to let them keep 50%. Of course that 50% will just plug their deficit because that’s likely what the government plans to use it for. They give with one hand and take with the other. You know very well how this works in the Uk. It’s an excuse to reduce funding elsewhere.
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That spoils the whole idea, does it not? Tourists are usually ok to fork out for a small tax if they know its funding the facilities and services they also benefit from. But would rightly be a bit narked off if it turned out the tax money raised was going straight to central coffers.
If an overnight visitor Levy is such an inconsequential and accepted charge, it begs the question…Why did they have to advertise and make a big thing out of it? Why not do like the VAT which is just added on at the bottom of the page, or the tax you pay on your insurance.
Just tell me how much it costs to stop in a room overnight… 
Once upon a time when flying you were billed for the cost of the flight. Baggage, which seat you sat in, a meal, airport tax, etc etc were all included in the cost of your ticket. They are all now added separately…Why? You’ve still got to pay them no matter what it’s called…Who gives a *&$£x… 
The worst did happen Dachs, but the establishment took no notice just like they usually do…
I could make a list of a whole bunch of other stuff that was sneaked in that nobody wanted or voted for, but it came to pass anyway…
I think you are under the misconception that we live in a democratic society…
It’s called ‘social engineering’
In China it’s called ‘communism’
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I hope I’m not, Bob. I’ve also lived in a dictatorship, so I know the difference. The thing is the alternative we’re faced with doesn’t look any better. I’m not saying I’m blissfully happy with our society. No doubt there’s a strong need for reforms. The crux, however, is that the alternative movement, when in power, is going to throw the baby out…instead of changing society as it is necessary. I’d prefer a middle course and more convincing alternative solutions. The movement intends to destroy but is devoid of ideas what to do instead.
Just tell me what the worst was, for a start.
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Facial recognition being rolled out across the board with no consent for a start. AI systems being rolled out with no consultation. Jobs are being sacrificed to AI but not sure who voted for any of this. We are being snooped on, listened to and it’s ordinary people who are victimised. My friends husband shouted at his kids (yes he just shouted) and they now have social workers doing an assessment as his daughter mentioned it to a school teacher during an informal chat. He’s hard of hearing. She had a cycling accident last year and was in A&E and now they put 2 and 2 together to make 7 and the whole family are under review for months. Shouting at kids is now a cause for investigation by the authorities.
Doubtless some think this is all ok, but if you lived under the Stasi you will recognise these methods.
If you watched “Das Leben der Anderen” (fabulous film) you might remember the spook who watched the actor and his wife was sympathetic to their situation and suppressed some information. At least he was a human. Not so with AI, that will be heartless.
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This Dachs…Annies Post… 
And Like Annie posted earlier about the smoking ban. Most of the pubs here have closed down and the ones that stay open have to serve food. The tax on alcohol means that a six pack from the supermarket will be a quarter of the price you pay in the pub. There are lots of other overheads that landlords have to pay to stay in business, not least of which the the high cost of hiring staff. The no smoking ban was to improve the fitness of the masses and take the pressure off the hospitals, so how come the NHS is in the worse state than it’s ever been in. I don’t think the smoking ban had anything to do with the health of society…
They don’t want people congregating, they want you staying at home where they can see you.
Divide and conquer…
Flooding the country with fit young mercenaries…It might sound like a conspiracy theory but only realised when it’s too late…If it isn’t already…
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where your smart tv listens to you, where your mandatory smartphone (which you have the joy of purchasing and charging at your own cost) checks your movements and “helpful” AI can see and hear exactly what you say and browse. Where your access to all services can be cut off once cash is withdrawn, where you cannot even speak to a human about any problems because all services now have an “AI assistant” or use auto whatsapp chat instead of even using emails. It’s all rubbish and so confusing the older we get.
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And the worse thing is, the younger generation think that they understand it and can handle it…
Unlike Dachs where his countrymen had this world thrust upon them, we are having our freedoms taken away bit by bit, and not only don’t we notice, we actually help them to do it.
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That’s one of the things I miss most, talking to a human assistant on the phone, they’re very rare nowadays, like trying to find a needle in a haystack. 
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Been to the city centre today taking the commuter train. Ironically, I had to enable the movement tracker on my mobile before hopping on the train. Using that app, in turn, is a logical reaction of passengers to the tariff jungle if they don’t want to study endlessly long regulations on ticket acquisition. Boils down to a chicken-and-egg question. It was the railway company that first came up with the tariff jungle driven by a desire to maximise profits to which customers reacted by using a mobility app at the expense of their personal freedom. I don’t see the state involved here. 
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In London there is an oyster card. The idea is that it replaces paper tickets and removes the need for ticket offices and the staff selling the tickets. Before the oyster was rolled out you could buy a ticket from a machine or from the office. Gradually they increased the cost of the tickets so that you were forced to use the oyster if you didn’t want to pay twice as much. The oyster has your full journey history recorded.
People are coaxed into giving up freedoms in this way. It’s more convenient to use the tech to track movements because they make the system so complex or so expensive if you don’t use the apps. Or there simply are no humans left to help you.
My view is that we are not consulted on such changes. It’s a stealthy takeover.
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I forgot to mention that one can switch off the movement tracker again after getting off the train, which I do. Now we need to trust the smartphone manufacturer as well as Google hoping that they are not too “talkative”. It’s a complex, Kafkaesque web of interdependencies in which we thrash around.
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I agree regarding those innovations but off-hand I can’t recall any examples of when there actually was consent, consultation, or votes prior to their introduction. Can you?
As for the shouting that seems to have been an overreaction reminding me of the mentality of block leaders from unfortunate times. Over here it’s because of this that at times people are waiting too long to the detriment of an abused child. Not advocating what happened, just saying that sometimes it may be a fine line to walk.
Yes, I’ve seen the film and thought it was good as long as one doesn’t take it as being true to reality which includes the alleged catharsis of that spook.