Need to know
Tourist taxes can be a way for governments to raise funds to pay for infrastructure and mitigate the impact of tourism. However, they’re often a controversial measure, with some claiming they deter tourists from visiting. Here are some destinations introducing or increasing their tourist taxes in 2026.
- Bucharest, often nicknamed ‘Little Paris’ due to the Romanian capital’s striking resemblance to the French city, will be bringing in a new tourist tax of 10 Romanian Leu a night, around £1.70, for stays in 2026 and beyond. Funds raised will be used to further promote this increasingly popular city as a tourist destination.
- England will gain the same powers as the rest of the UK, with mayors allowed to decide whether to implement tourist taxes in their region. The North East is already considering a tourist tax of £2 a night, which could give the region a boost of £20m a year. London continues to debate the introduction of a tourist tax, which could be in the form of a flat fee or percentage of accommodation cost.
- Edinburgh is rolling out its tourist tax on bookings in the city from July 24. This visitors’ levy will be a total of 5% added to your bill, either at check-in or check-out, and is based on the cost of accommodation alone and not any extras. The cost is only applied to the first five nights of your stay.
- Thailand has been planning a tourist tax for several years now, and it’s rumoured it’ll begin from mid-2026. The fee will be 300 Baht, just over £7 for passengers arriving by air, and for those that arrive by sea it’ll be 150 Baht.
- Los Angeles has recently hiked its tourist tax to 15.5% of visitors’ accommodation cost, making it the most expensive in the world. Visit from 2026 and stay in a hotel room for $280 a night (around £208), and you’d be charged an extra $32, or $225 extra for the week, which works out at approximately £167. This is quite a large extra cost for visitors to the city.
- Norway will be giving the power to local municipalities to decide whether they want to implement a 3% tourist tax in their region. So far, Lofoten and Tromsø, both popular destinations for Northern Light watching, have said they’ll be introducing the tax, and it’s likely more will follow.
- Kyoto already has a tourist tax, which will increase in 2026, which the local authorities claim will help this pretty Japanese city balance visitor numbers and preserve its heritage. The tax is paid in tiers, depending on accommodation cost, so those spending under 6,000 yen a night (about £28) will pay just 200 yen in taxes (about £0.95). However, the biggest hike is for luxury accommodation costing over 100,000 yen (£about £474) a night as, the tax will be increasing tenfold to a hefty 10,000 yen per night (approximately £48).
Read more about new tourist taxes for 2026.
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