Rome looks at 500% tourist tax rise

ROME’S city government is debating a proposal to increase its tourist taxes for visitors during its jubilee year in 2016. Each coach load of tourists would be charged a daily rate of €1,000 (£725) to enter the city centre to see sights such as the Vatican, a 500 percent rise on the current price of a coach permit (€200/£145). This would be in addition to a higher tax on accommodation that tourists already have to pay, which has doubled on last year. 

Tour operators and travel agents are objecting to the proposal. The European Tourism Association (ETOA) said it is extremely concerned by the plans. ‘Imposing a fivefold increase on the existing €200 daily permit is out of all proportion,’ it said in a statement. ‘It threatens pre-paid contracts for travel in 2016 and beyond and is yet another cost that is making Rome an expensive and unpredictable destination.’

The association calculated that, under these proposals, a visitor in a group of 40 people staying in a 4-star hotel would be paying €33 (£23.93) in local taxes a night.

It was suggested that agents might be forced to reconsider how much time is allocated to #Rome in travel itineraries.

Tom Jenkins, CEO of ETOA said: ‘This behaviour seems vicious and irrational, with no regard to practicality or planning. What will these visitors receive in return for this tax increase? That this was announced in the same month as the bid for the 2024 Olympic Games shows that the aspirations of Rome and the reality of their organizational capability live in separate worlds.’

Rome's Holy Year is a ‘year of mercy’ announced by Pope Francis, which should bring thousands of pilgrims to the city.

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Picture Credit: Circular staircase of the Vatican Museums by Livioandronico2013 - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons