This comes after a rise in tourist taxes for holiday hotspots in Greece, France and The Netherlands, with other countries also introducing new charges.
The increases are in response to over-tourism and government concerns around local environments and cultural heritage.
Edinburgh has joined the list of popular holiday destinations set to charge visitors and Thailand is also following the success of European hotspots and introducing a fee for visitors from mid-2025.
Travel insurance comparison experts from Quotezone.co.uk have provided a tourist tax guide for some of the most popular destinations to help with holiday planning.
“The concept of a tourist tax isn’t a new one, but it is certainly something many more countries have introduced over the last few years,” said Helen Rolph, travel insurance expert at Quotezone.co.uk
“As holidays surge in price this year by over 10%, we encourage all travellers to look into the tourist taxes in place before booking a holiday destination to help avoid any unexpected extra costs they haven’t budgeted for.”
Tourist Tax Across Key Holiday Hotspots
1. Scotland – 5% levy on top of accommodation cost
Edinburgh has announced it will be introducing Scotland’s first ever tourist tax from July 2026. Any trips booked after October 1, 2025, will be affected by what they are calling the Visitor Levy. This charge will apply to anyone staying overnight in the city and will extend to all visitors including Scottish residents.
2. Greece – €8.00 per night ($13.80)
Greece has revealed a significant price hike in daily fees for tourists who will now pay €8.00 per night between April and October, or €2.00 per night outside of this peak season. This steep increase is reportedly to help fund climate change adaption, disaster prevention and infrastructure improvements.
3. Santorini and Mykonos – €20.00 per night ($34)
In an attempt to combat over tourism, Greece will ask travellers heading to these popular islands to face costs of €20.00 per night, which will need to be paid at the port.
4. Venice – €5.00 per day ($8.50)
Last year tourists visiting Venice during peak hours faced costs as part of a trial scheme, which is coming into full force in 2025. The Venice Entry Tax is due for visitors to the city between 8:30 and 16:00 on certain dates in April, May, June and July.
5. Portugal – €2.00 per day ($3.50)
Tourist tax charges are applied in 13 popular Portuguese cities, including Lisbon and Porto. Visitors must pay a charge of €2.00 per day during the high season of April to October.
6. Netherlands – 12.5% of overnight stay
Visiting the popular city break destination of Amsterdam in the Netherlands got even more expensive last year as they increased their tourist tax to 12.5% of your overnight hotel rate. Other cities in the Netherlands are now also imposing taxes on visitors.
7. France – up to €11.38 per night ($19.60)
This year marks the start of significant changes to the French tourism tax system and the updates are a part of the government’s initiative to boost regional infrastructure, with a focus on public transport. The tourist tax rate varies depending on type and category of accommodation, with charges as high as €11.38 per night for five-star accommodation, €8.45 per night for four-star accommodation and €5.53 per night for three star accommodation in the Parisian capital.
8. Thailand – 300 THB ($14)
Thailand is proposing a new travel tax to come into effect from mid-2025. Tourists will be subject to a fee of 300 THB when arriving by plane.
