Iceland has become a victim of its own popularity. As travelers continue to be drawn to the island nation’s dramatic—and Instagram-friendly—natural landscapes, the impact on its environment is growing. In an attempt to curb that mounting pressure, the country’s Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir announced late last month that a new tourist tax—with specifics still being discussed—will be implemented in 2024.
“Tourism has really grown exponentially in Iceland in the last decade, and that obviously is not just creating effects on the climate,” she told Bloomberg. “It’s also because most of our guests who are coming to us are visiting unspoiled nature, and obviously it creates a pressure.”
For a country set on becoming carbon neutral by 2040, constant evaluation of its sustainability has become key. “It is intended to expand taxation to cover passengers on cruise ships alongside hotels, recognizing the impact on our seas as well as land,” a spokesperson for its Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs told USA Today.
Iceland has long been working on ways to handle the increasing pressure from visitors. Besides a possible fee on visitation that has been talked about for years, some years ago, a nature pass to visit its most famous sites was discussed—but didn’t pass. Eventually, an accommodation tax did get put into place, which was suspended during the pandemic. So it was simply a matter of time before a tax was resumed.
The Nordic nation isn’t the only trending destination imposing a visitors’ charge. Indonesia has been discussing imposing a tourist tax on hotspot Bali since before the pandemic. Overtourism has had considerable impact on the destination since its reopening—but its latest issues have been with international travelers behaving badly, including defacing property and misbehaving with authorities.
Last week, it announced that starting February 14, 2024, a tax of 150,000 Indonesian rupiah (about $10 USD) will apply to all visitors, including children. “We will use it for the environment, culture, and to build quality infrastructure, so traveling to Bali will be more comfortable and safe,” provincial governor Wayan Koster told Agence France-Presse.
Many destinations build their tourism taxes into hotel stays, with Barcelona, Amsterdam, and Paris all set to increase those fees—the French capital has received approval to triple its fee. On a smaller scale, on October 1, Japan’s popular Itsukushima Shrine began implementing a tourist tax on visitors visit the Miyajima island, where the UNESCO World Heritage Site is located, in order to “create a sustainable tourist area that is good to live in and good to visit,” the city of Miyajima’s site said, according to USA Today. But at just 100 yen (about $0.67 USD), the tax will likely have minimal effect.
