3 days ago
Norway government agrees tax for areas hit by overtourism
The deal was struck after a group of mayors from the Lofoten islands travelled to Oslo on Monday to lobby the government and parliament after the parliament's business committee opted to limit the long-discussed tourist tax to visiting cruise ships.
The three parties have a majority in the parliament, meaning the new tax was certain to be voted on when it comes before this parliament on Wednesday June 4th.
"We have agreed on an effective model on visiting fees for areas with particular challenges, like the Tromsø region and the Lofoten Islands," the Centre Party MP Erling Sande, who leads the business committee, told the
TV2 broadcaster
.
The tax will be levied on accommodation and cruise ships, but not on caravans, motorhomes, recreational boats or camping.
Municipalities will be eligible to levy the tax if they can document "real pressure on infrastructure". Sande said the details over what would count as "real pressure" still needed to be finalised.
"There are a handful of areas in our country. We see it in the Tromsø region, we see it in Lofoten, and there are some other places around the country where there is a particularly high load."
The government's original plan for a 3 percent tax on accommodation was dropped by the committee last Wednesday at the last minute, with the committee instead opting to limit the tax to cruise ships.
The government had already
reduced the proposed rate for the accommodation sector
from 5 to 3 percent this spring, bringing it in line with taxes in many European cities, but had left out cruise and campervan tourists.
READ MORE:
Everything you need to know about Norway's planned tourist tax
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Municipalities were then, as now, granted discretion over whether to implement the tax, but the focus of the tax still drew anger from some business groups for missing its intended targets.
Six mayors from Lofoten travelled to Oslo on Monday to try to revive the tourist tax on accommodation, as they did not believe that a cruise tax would be enough to solve the problems with overtourism in their communities.
