When booking a cruise to Greece, most travelers picture themselves walking along serene alleyways between white-washed buildings, having freshly caught meals at seaside tavernas, or sunbathing on a tranquil beach.
06.09.2024 - 16:30 / cntraveler.com / Conde Nast
In a bid to clamp down on overtourism and protect places of interest, popular holiday destinations across Europe and beyond have introduced various forms of a “tourist tax”. In recent years, this has come into play in destinations such as Venice, Lake Como, Brussels, and parts of Japan—and now, UK hotspots are following suit.
In May 2024, it was announced to the BBC that Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole would be introducing a similar levy for tourists and visitors, becoming the first destinations in the UK to do so. The new fee, which came into place on Monday, July 1, 2024, will be priced at £2 ($2.63) per room per night and will apply to those staying in larger hotels in the area.
In addition to preserving the local community and its tourism services, the funds will be used to sustain and develop events which should in turn attract more visitors.
According to Bournemouth University, the Dorset city attracts 3.5 million people in the summer months alone. Meanwhile, a 2022 report published by the BCP council stated that in April of that year, Bournemouth’s high street received a footfall of 4.6 million, Christchurch welcomed 1.3 million, and Poole high street had over 2.6 million visitors—and all figures were higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Speaking of the changes, the region’s Accommodation Business Improvement District (ABID) said in the same BBC report that the new measures would help “safeguard the local economy” and would bring in an estimated £12 million ($15,817,570) over the next five years.
Rosie Radwell, Marsham Court Hotel managing director and chair of the shadow ABID board, was also quoted in the announcement, adding, “The additional funds raised will have a huge impact on the future of tourism in Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole. […] We are excited about the future and have already started to plan projects and events to enhance tourism in the area.”
But what do locals make of the new changes?
Sarah Stella Edwards, a 34-year-old PR account manager from Poole, says the charges are more than fair. “It’s only £2 ($2.63) per night, and that’s only in larger hotels in the area. The millions generated by visitors will put some much-needed funding back into keeping these areas in better condition,” she told Condé Nast Traveller UK. “I’ve paid tourist taxes when visiting places in Europe and don’t see a problem with it. We all want to enjoy the areas we visit, so if a small fee from each person goes towards upkeep of the area, I’m all for it.”
In August 2024, Edinburgh's city council announced that it would become the first city in Scotland to introduce a tourist tax, per a BBC News report. The plan has been in the making for some time, but the launch date was pushed back to prioritize
When booking a cruise to Greece, most travelers picture themselves walking along serene alleyways between white-washed buildings, having freshly caught meals at seaside tavernas, or sunbathing on a tranquil beach.
As a former social media editor and now travel editor, I’ll be the first to admit that my dedication to taking aesthetic holiday content often goes too far. On holiday with family Kefalonia earlier this summer, I racked up over 1,500 photos and videos in just one week. On a five-day trip to Tuscany with friends, I returned with just under 1,000. My camera roll is filled with curated restaurant tablescapes, postcard-perfect sunsets and highlight reels of recent trips.
Daytime Bangkok is an industrial opera—flashing tuks-tuks, hectic motorbikes, and dogged taxis whizz by the end of a side street, creating a soundtrack of car horns and engines, which then layer onto an Adele playlist blasting out of one of the many gay bars along Silom Soi 4 road. But hidden at the very end, where the noise of the traffic becomes a dull hum, is the Stranger Bar, its black facade bleeding into the other buildings on either side. Come nightfall, a quick metamorphosis begins—it's nondescript no more as the crowds funnel in, waiting for the night’s five drag acts to dazzle inside the bar-cum-threater.
From fiery birch, elm and sugar maple in the Great Lakes to sunset-hued beech and oak in the southern Appalachians to glowing sumac and cottonwoods along the Mississippi, the forests of the Midwest flaunt some of the most vivid fall colors in the United States.
Norwegian citizens will no longer need a visa to enter China for visits up to 15 days. The policy shift sees China place Norway in a select group of nations as part of a wider relaxation of visa rules for inbound visitors.
Greece is set to introduce a new tax for cruise ship passengers visiting the popular islands of Santorini and Mykonos during the summer’s peak season, in an effort to mitigate the effects of overtourism.
Edinburgh is set to become the first city in Scotland to introduce a tourist tax after Scottish government granted powers to local authorities to introduce visitor charges.
Sep 9, 2024 • 13 min read
While the official end of summer is still a few weeks away, if you’re already making your wish list for destinations to visit next summer, American Airlines’ newly announced network expansion might serve as fodder.
Rivers soak into your bones.
New Zealand's government announced on Tuesday that it will triple entry fees for foreign tourists starting in October.
Going on a romantic escape and traveling with your partner for the very first time is as exciting as it is nerve-wracking. There is a lot of pressure associated with your first couple’s trip: There are all the typical stresses that come with traveling, plus more anxieties associated with spending uninterrupted quality time together for longer-than-usual stretches. Not to mention having to get used to the travel idiosyncrasies of another person. Below, we’ve rounded up the golden rules, according to our staff editors, that you should follow to ensure a smooth-sailing trip when you're traveling with your partner.