Katrín Jakobsdóttir travel tips

Iceland has announced it will soon be introducing a new tourism tax as part of its climate goals.

Many destinations around the world have become more expensive to visit in recent years as governments increasingly levy tourist taxes.

A volcano erupted in southwest Iceland on Sunday, posing an immediate threat to a nearby small fishing town although it had been evacuated earlier and no people were in danger, authorities said.

Iceland has reinstated the tax tourists pay for hotel and alternative accommodation rooms this year. In another change, the tax will also apply to cruises.

Iceland has become a victim of its own popularity. As travelers continue to be drawn to the island nation’s dramatic—and Instagram-friendly—natural landscapes, the impact on its environment is growing. In an attempt to curb that mounting pressure, the country’s Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir announced late last month that a new tourist tax—with specifics still being discussed—will be implemented in 2024.“Tourism has really grown exponentially in Iceland in the last decade, and that obviously is not just creating effects on the climate,” she told Bloomberg. “It’s also because most of our guests who are coming to us are visiting unspoiled nature, and obviously it creates a pressure.”

Iceland plans to introduce a tourist tax to help protect its unspoilt nature.

Visiting Iceland will soon cost a little more, but the increased expense will go to a good cause. The Nordic country plans to add a new tax for tourists that will support climate and sustainability goals.  “Tourism has really grown exponentially in Iceland in the last decade and that obviously is not just creating effects on the climate,” Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Iceland's prime minister, said in a television interview on Bloomberg this week while attending the United Nations Climate Ambition Summit 2023 in New York City. (Iceland saw a sharp rebound in tourism after COVID-19 lockdowns, with over 8.5 million travelers visiting the country in 2022.) While no specifics were provided on the exact cost, Jakobsdóttir noted the tariff would “not be high," and it would be implemented as city taxes for people staying in Iceland. Jakobsdóttir also said her administration has been working closely with tourism companies throughout the country to make changes that are sustainable for the environment, including companies moving their fleet of vehicles to electric.  Many cities globally already have tourism taxes in place as a way to increase investment in the community, however, tourism taxes to support sustainability efforts have begun to gain popularity around the world.