Amsterdam raises tourist tax to the ‘highest in Europe’
Amsterdam already has one of the highest tourist taxes in Europe. And from next year, Amsterdam will be requesting even more money from its visitors, potentially making it the highest on the continent.. Amsterdam tourist tax
The Dutch capital will be adding a levy of €3 per person — about US$3 — per night for travelers staying overnight in hotels.
That’s in addition to the 7% of the room rate it currently charges.
The move means that a night in a one-star hotel in Amsterdam will almost certainly incur a higher tax levy than the top five-star hotels in other major European capitals.
Tourist taxes around the world
In Berlin, where the tourist tax is 5%, the most expensive hotel on that date — the Hotel Adlon Kempinski charges €249.35 ($272.14) for the room, and €11.65 ($12.71) in tourist tax.
Rome currently has the highest fixed price tax in Europe, at €7 ($7.64) per person per night in a five star hotel. That means that even a room at the Hotel de Russie, which costs €815 ($890 approx) on March 28, will incur a lower levy — €14 ($15 approx) — than the one-star Amsterdam property.
Even in January, the lowest season, a night at Booking.com‘s top rated one-star hotel in Amsterdam — the Hotel International — will incur a higher tourist tax than staying in one of Paris’s 11 “palais” hotels — those judged so “exceptional” that they are beyond five stars.
In January, a room for two at Hotel International would cost €62 ($68 approx), plus €4.05 ($5 approx) tourist tax and €6 ($6.55) for both occupants.
In contrast, the Mandarin Oriental Paris — which costs €1,435 ($1566.14) for a room on the same night — would charge just €10 ($10.11) in tourist tax for two.
A spokesperson for Amsterdam city council denied that the raised taxes were planned to deter tourists, calling it a point of “principle” to make visitors pay their way in the city.
“Visitors will contribute more to the high costs of keeping the city safe and clean, and of keeping the public space like pavements, quays, bridges and streets, in a good state,” the spokesperson said.
