The government has announced that it wants to introduce a new tax to combat overtourism.
Tourists are welcome in (very) many countries which are competing to attract them again by taking advantage of the attraction for travel and escape born from successive confinements. Welcome yes but not at all costs! While several world-famous destinations, notably Venice, are considering different solutions to combat overtourism, another very trendy destination over the last ten years also aims to regulate the flow of tourists who flock there each year.
This country is Iceland, famous for its volcanoes, its varied landscapes, its hot springs, its glaciers and natural parks unique in the world. Iceland has less than 400,000 inhabitants but welcomed no less than 1.7 million tourists in 2022, a figure still far from the 2018 record but which reflects the resumption of air traffic. This influx is not without consequences on the environment and the visiting experience of tourists, as recognized by Icelandic Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir in an interview with Bloomberg.
“Tourism has grown exponentially in Iceland over the past decade and this is not only having an impact on the climate,” she said. “Most of our guests also visit our untouched nature and this creates obvious pressure.” The Prime Minister gave a clue: the increase in the tourist tax from 2024. Iceland had already implemented a tourist tax of up to 650 Icelandic crowns per night spent in the country, or around 4.50 euros per night. night. The Prime Minister did not give new figures but clarified that taxes will not be high “to begin with” before recalling that Iceland is investing this money in particular for its green industry and to aim for its carbon neutrality objective of here 2040, relying for example on geothermal energy and carbon capture.