If you’re planning a trip to Hobbiton and hoping to see Bilbo Baggins’s home in the Shire, you might have to shell out more money starting this year. New Zealand is nearly tripling a tax it levies on tourists entering the country.
Many tourists, people on working holidays, and some students and workers coming to New Zealand must currently pay an International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL) of NZ$35, (C$30). Starting Oct. 1, just in time for spring and summer in the Southern Hemisphere, this levy will increase to NZ$100 (C$84).
“The number of visitors coming to New Zealand has grown strongly over the past few years and growth is expected to continue. The IVL is your contribution to maintaining the facilities and natural environment you will use and enjoy during your stay,” New Zealand Immigration said in a statement.
Travellers who don’t need to pay the IVL are those arriving on an Australian or New Zealand passport or on a passport from some Pacific Island nations. An Australian or New Zealand resident or a person with a Business Visitor Visa or APEC business travel card can also avoid the tax.
New Zealand is the latest country to evaluate the impacts of tourism. Over the course of July, thousands of locals hit the streets of Spain’s major tourist destinations saying they’ve had enough of tourists. The protests are the latest in an anti-tourist sentiment gripping much of Europe, with experts warning that they could have ripple effects all over the world.
From Barcelona to Mallorca, Spanish protesters have called for a more balanced approach to tourism, arguing that the sector has been contributing to the country’s housing crisis.
In April this year, the City of Venice, Italy, launched a pilot program to charge day-trippers a five-euro (US$5.35) entry fee that authorities hope will discourage visitors from arriving on peak days and make the city more livable for its dwindling residents.
“We need to find a new balance between the tourists and residents,’’ said Simone Venturini, the city’s top tourism official. “We need to safeguard the spaces of the residents, of course, and we need to discourage the arrival of day-trippers on some particular days.”
Amsterdam has a tourist tax levied as a percentage on accommodation costs, which it is nearly doubling this year. And just last month, legislation in Scotland received royal assent to let cities impose a tourist tax applied on overnight accommodations, which Edinburgh will have in place by July 2026.
In an interview with British daily The Guardian, Peter DeBrine, UNESCO’s senior project officer for sustainable tourism, said the protests could spread beyond Europe.
“What we’re seeing is that we’re breaching a threshold of tolerance in these destinations,” he told the Guardian. “It’s really trying to rebalance the situation. It’s totally out of balance now.”
Signs displaying the words “tourists go home” have become a common sight in Spain.
Concerns about how tourism may impact housing also seem to be affecting housing policy in Barcelona, one of Spain’s largest cities.
To safeguard and expand the housing supply for full-time residents, local authorities want to rid the Spanish city known for its architecture, beaches and Catalan culture of the 10,000 apartments licensed as short-term rentals.
Barcelona City Hall announced in June that it would not renew any tourist apartment licences after they expire in 2028. Deputy Mayor Laia Bonet said the city wants tourism, which accounts for 15 per cent of the local economy, but must help residents cope with skyrocketing rents and real estate prices.
“Our housing emergency obligates us, forces us, to change the way we do things and to put the priority on housing above our policies for accommodating tourists,” Bonet told The Associated Press.
— with files from Reuters and The Associated Press