One pretty European city loved by Brits has raised its tourist tax to help the sustainability of tourism in the area.
Porto in Portugal has increased its tourist tax to three euros in a bid to benefit more from its millions of tourists.
The Porto Municipal Assembly approved the amendment to the Municipal Tourist Tax regulation, which will increase from two to three euros per overnight stay throughout the city.
Plans to increase the tourist tax were discussed on Monday evening before receiving favourable votes.
The increase in the value of the tax is justified by the expenditure associated with tourism and borne by the municipality in 2023 in areas such as culture, heritage, environment, energy, quality of life, town planning and mobility.
In 2023, expenditure associated with tourism totalled around €15.5 million (£12.9 million), which, divided by the 5.5 million overnight stays in the city, represents a cost of €2.81 (£2.35) per overnight stay.
For the CDU, Francisco Calheiros considered that some criteria in the Municipal Tourist Tax regulation could be improved, namely the exemption for young people up to the age of 16 or in the context of school visits.
The MP said: “The study points to several ways forward and could be taken into account in a future discussion.”
Calheiros said that it’s not the tax that will bring balance to the problems tourism causes in the city but the integrated policies that will make a difference.
Rui Nóvoa, from BE, and Paulo Vieira de Castro, from PAN, also pointed out that the municipality “could and should” broaden the range of situations in which the amount of the tax to be charged could vary and apply.
For the independent movement, Nuno Caiano emphasised that the Constitution “does not allow for differentiation” in the amount of the tax to be applied, arguing, however, that it would make sense to “think about a VAT on tourism” even though this is “not within the reach of the executive”.
Considering that the change “is not limited to a financial decision”, social democrat Nuno Borges argued that it “promotes justice and equity, allows investment in urban sustainability and reduces tourist pressure”.
Others raised points that the tax increase should lead to significant improvements in the city.
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