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Italy: Steep increases in overnight tax | Proposal for up to €25 per night for the most expensive hotel rooms

HOTELS ORGANIZATIONS TOURISM

The Italian government has seen sharp increases in the overnight stay tax on hotels and other tourist accommodation, both in order to increase revenues in cities, at a time when Italy is facing great pressure on its public finances, and to meet the challenge of over-tourism.

The government’s latest proposal, published by the Financial Times, suggests raising the maximum limit of the tourist tax to 5 euros per room per night for rooms costing less than 100 euros, to 10 euros per night for rooms costing between 100 and 400 euros, to 15 euros for rooms costing between 400 and 750 euros and to 25 euros for rooms costing more than 750 euros.

The Italian Ministry of Tourism, headed by Daniela Santanchè, of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s “Brothers of Italy” party, has announced that it is planning a dialogue with the relevant industry stakeholders on a possible proposal to amend the rules of the tourist tax in September.
Hotel and travel industry associations have been up in arms over the plan, warning that if implemented, Italy would lose competitiveness to other European destinations.

The debate comes as Italy’s debt burden, according to IMF forecasts, is projected to reach almost 140% of GDP this year and its annual debt service costs are now almost equal to public spending on education.
To date, Italian cities can impose an overnight tax on both foreign and domestic travellers, usually ranging from 1 to 5 euros, per person, per night, depending on the number of stars in the accommodation.

In 2019, before the pandemic, nearly 1,200 municipalities collected a total of €470 million in tourism taxes, according to the Bank of Italy. But collections rose to about 775 million euros in 2023 after the Meloni government decided to allow the most popular city destinations – with an annual number of visitors from other regions and countries 20 times the local population – to increase their tourism taxes to up to 10 euros, per person, per night.

This year, Venice experimented with an entrance fee for day-trippers visiting its historic centre.

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