While once brought up largely as an internet joke about charging tourists for bad behavior, the term “tourist tax” now primarily refers to both the entry and accommodation fees that dozens of cities and countries around the world charge their out-of-town visitors.
The most recent places to introduce new charges for non-residents landing at the airport include New Zealand, Thailand, and several regions within Japan. Cities in Europe and the U.S. will usually avoid explicit entry fees but have a short-term accommodation tax that is added to the nightly rate of one’s hotel or rental property.
This week, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in the United Kingdom has published its plans to introduce a visitor levy that will allow regional mayors in England the right to introduce a new tourist tax to accommodation in their cities.
What you need to know about the overnight visitor levy being pushed forward in the United Kingdom
Envisioned to be put in place by 2028, the tax is uncapped to give each mayor the choice of how much to charge visitors to their city. The general expectation aligned with tourist taxes in other cities is to add a tax of 5% to the cost of the nightly accommodation rate; any local government will have to walk a line between generating revenue to keep up local infrastructure and not having the tax be so high as to drive tourists away.
“Along with our plans to devolve a portion of income tax and enable mayors to retain some of the business rates generated in their areas, the levy represents our commitment to creating an accountable state, responsible to local people,” Jim McMahon, the minister of local government, and James Murray, minister of the treasury, said in a joint statement.
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At the moment, the overnight visitor levy is at the proposal stage and would need to be debated and voted in before coming into effect. It has immediately run into disapproval by local businesses and tourism industry representatives for potentially driving away tourism at a time when both locals and foreigners are already eschewing the UK for less expensive destinations.
Edinburgh was the first major city in the UK to introduce a tourist tax.Shutterstock
Tourist tax in UK hits upon early opposition, current plans are for 2028
“It’s disappointing that the overnight visitor levy [OVL] proposal is moving ahead, given the potential negative impact on staycationers and the complexity and administrative burden it will add to hospitality groups — all for relatively little revenue,” Alice Jeffries, tax policy manager at the Confederation of British Industry, said in a statement first given to The Guardian.
The tax was also designed to apply to anyone without local residence, whether international or from another part of the UK.
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The visitor levy is modeled after a similar tourist tax voted in by city councilors in Edinburgh in 2025. As of July 2026, the city adds a 5% levy to the cost of a night booked at any local hotel, hostel, bed-and-breakfast, or property rental in the city.
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