Italy plots €25-a-night tourist tax to fund bin collections

Holidaymakers hit with additional fees and protests from European locals

Italy is plotting tourist taxes of as much as €25 (£21) a night to fund bin collections in cash-strapped cities.
If approved, the move would represent the latest blow for holidaymakers who have been hit with additional taxes in recent years as well as protests from locals in Europe this summer.
Italian cities are already permitted to impose taxes on overnight stays made by foreigners and Italians, with prices currently ranging between €1 to €5 per person, per night.
However, it is understood that the government’s latest proposal targets hotel rooms and suggests increasing the tourist tax in proportion to the rates charged by hotels.
This could be as much as €25 a night and laws may be changed to allow cities to use the proceeds to fund local public services like refuse collections, according to the Financial Times.
Marina Lalli, of Federturismo, an industry body for tourism firms, told the newspaper cities were using money from the taxes to “illegally” fill budget holes. 
“When you go and fix your streets that are full of holes — and you pay with money you collect from tourist tax — is this really for tourists, or is this a normal, ordinary thing that you should do in your city?” she said.
The law currently requires cities to use such tourist tax revenues to pay for things that are relevant to visitors, such as multilingual signage and maintaining tourist sites, but Meloni’s government is considering scrapping this requirement.
Daniela Santanchè, Italy’s tourism minister and ally of Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, revealed on social media the government was looking at raising further charges on visitors.
She said: “In times of over-tourism, we are debating this so that it really helps improve services and make tourists who pay it more responsible.”
Prices would be €5 per room per night for a room under €100; €10 per night for rooms costing €100-€400; €15 for rooms priced at €400-€750; and €25 for rooms that are more than €750.
But hoteliers warned that the plans could hinder growth in the economy’s biggest sector. 
Federalberghi, an industry body for small and medium-sized hotels, said in a statement that “the common objective must be to support growth, not slow it down”. 
Barbara Casillo, director of Confindustria Alberghi, which represents larger hotels and international chains, warned other European destinations could surpass Italy if lawmakers “scare travellers” with high taxes.
She told Italian media: “If we scare travellers who come to us by giving the impression that we want to take what we can, we are not doing a good service to the country,” Casillo said in an interview. “We must be very careful.”
It comes after Venice experimented with an entry fee for visitors which critics said in May had “resoundingly failed” after the number of tourists visiting the city increased following the tax’s introduction.
Visitors to Venice were initially charged €5 for 29 days this year, mostly weekends and holidays. Authorities have said the levy will remain in place and could be doubled for 2025, bringing it up to €10. 
Bank of Italy figures show municipalities collected €775m from tourist taxes 2023.
Britons travelling abroad have recently been the subject of protests in Barcelona and the Canary Islands, with holidaymakers in northern Spain recently being blocked by activists on a local road.
It was reported last month that Barcelona will seek to raise tourist taxes for cruise passengers visiting the city for less than 12 hours to deter excessive tourism.
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