While the practice dates back more than a century, to when France became the first country in the world to introduce a levy on holiday resorts, the tourist tax has become particularly common in the post-pandemic travel boom.
European countries such as Spain, the Netherlands, Croatia, and Greece have been doing this by adding a percentage to each hotel or vacation rental property booking, while countries such as New Zealand, Iceland, and Thailand recently introduced additional charges for any non-resident landing at one of their airports.Â
The Italian city of Venice has also been experimenting with a system in which both Italians and foreigners who come to the floating city during peak weekend days in the summer have to pay €5 if booking in advance and €10 if doing it spontaneously. Those who come in outside the 54 days set between April and July 2025 do not need to pay anything.
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Going to Norway? Here’s what you need to know about the latest tourist tax
The Nordic nation of Norway has been weighing the idea of an entry tax similar to what is charged by Iceland, but at the start of June, lawmakers instead approved a 3% charge on overnight accommodation according to the continental model.
Norway’s Minister of Trade and Industry Cecilie Myrseth called it “in line with what they have in the rest of Europe” and applying only to “areas particularly affected by tourism.”
Related: A popular European city is introducing the highest ‘tourist tax’ yet
Lawmakers had initially proposed 6% but lowered the number after tourism industry representatives expressed fears that it would deter visitors from parts of the country that need tourist dollars.
The tax was written as an optional charge that municipalities can choose to implement. It will likely be charged at hotels in large cities like Oslo and Bergen. The same goes for remote destinations that attract visitors seeking unique experiences, but which lack the population or infrastructure to handle growing numbers of tourists.
Image source: Getty Images
‘Building trust between the local population and visitors’
In 2024, 38.6 million people and 12 million foreign visitors booked overnight stays across Norway. This marks a 4.2% increase from the year before.
“We know not every municipality needs this, but in high-pressure areas, it’s about building trust between the local population and visitors,” Myrseth told local broadcaster NRK in April 2025.
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The collected funds will go toward building infrastructure in areas where it is most needed. The levy is also written in a way that allows municipalities to request that it be put toward specific projects in their area.
The tax affects those who book accommodation independently and not cruise ship travelers who spend the night on their ship.
As Norway recorded a record number of seven million cruise ship visitors in 2024, the exclusion received some criticism. Detractors argue that the largest strain on local infrastructure comes from major cruise lines’ visitors, who descend en masse upon small cities within short time frames.
Amid similar problems, the French city of Nice banned all cruise ships carrying more than 900 passengers or larger than 190 meters (623 feet) from coming into its port in the summer of 2025.
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