Barcelona will raise tourist tax for cruise passengers, mayor says

Guardian

Barcelona plans to raise tourist tax for cruise passengers visiting for few hours

New Zealand announced on Tuesday a raise in its International Visitor Conservation and Tourist Levy
(IVL) to NZ$100 ($62) from NZ$35 starting from October 1 to "ensure visitors contribute more to public services and high-quality experiences."

The Beehive

Bloomberg

The non-refundable tourist tax is charged when applying for a New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority (NZeTA) or most visas, with notable exceptions being permanent residents, Australian citizens and people from many Pacific Island nations.

Immigration New Zealand

This comes on top of an increase in tourist visas from NZ$211 ($131) to NZ$341 ($211) also on October 1. Visitors holding passports of dozens of countries such as the US and Canada are visa-exempt for three-month stays.

The IVL fee was first introduced in 2019 to ensure tourists help cover the costs associated with tourism in New Zealand, including on infrastructure, services and the natural environment.

NZ Herald

Al Jazeera

Independent

According to the NZ government, more than a thousand citizens were consulted on the increase and 93% of the respondents agreed with the IVL hike. Tourist taxes are in place in many other destinations, including France and Italy.

BBC News

However, the country's independent tourist body Aotearoa warned that the higher fee would make the South Pacific nation "incredibly expensive to visit" at time when the tourism sector has yet to recover from the pandemic.

Reuters

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Destination taxes are the future, as most tourists are indeed willing to pay a levy if that helps improving local infrastructure and promotes the sustainable use of local resources. Given that there has been little evidence that such taxes have a negative impact on the flow of visitors, one can only expect them to become more and more common.

The Conversation

The Conversation #

Why you should expect to pay more tourist taxes – even though the evidence for them is unclear

As New Zealand's troubled tourism economy continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, the government proposes to triple the tourist tax, which will discourage visitors. The fee hikes will make travel to New Zealand more expensive and less attractive, potentially delaying the rebound in visitor numbers until after 2026. This is not good for country's economy.

Guardian #2500

New Zealand to nearly triple tourist tax for international visitors

There's a 23% chance that a CANZUK Free Movement Treaty will be adopted before 2029, according to the Metaculus prediction community.

Metaculus

Metaculus #

CANZUK Free Movement Zone by 2029

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New Zealand to nearly tripple tourist tax for international visitors

Taxation

New Zealand

It's a matter of fact that New Zealand's travel and tourism industry continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, lagging behind major markets. Therefore, the proposed hikes in visa fees and in the IVL spells disaster for the country's economy as they will make travel to New Zealand more expensive and less attractive, discouraging potential visitors.

New Zealand Nearly Tripples Tourist Tax for Foreign Visitors

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The Spin

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