Norway is set to become the latest destination to introduce a tourist tax after a wave of travellers swap sun for cooler temperatures, leaving areas of country overwhelmed with new visitors.
The country initially introduced a proposal for a tourist tax set at five per cent of the cost of an overnight stay, but a majority in parliament agreed to set the tax at three per cent.
The law will allow local authorities to introduce the visitor fee at their discretion, with the funds used to pay for infrastructure projects that will benefit both tourists and residents.
The tax will be added to accommodation charges, with authorities also allowed to adjust the fee depending on the season.
Cecilie Myrseth, Norway’s minister of trade and industry, told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK: “It is not the case that we have year-round tourism throughout the country, but in some places, there are parts of the year that are particularly demanding, and the expenses that the residents have to pay for are particularly high.”
Ms Mryseth said on social media on Tuesday that her party, Arbeiderpartiet, reached a “historical agreement” with other parties to introduce visitor subsidies in Norway “in line with what they have in the rest of Europe”.
“The scheme is voluntary [for local authorities], and it applies to areas that have a particularly large pressure of tourists.”
“The tourism industry is also the future of Norway,” she said. “An industry that creates housing, happiness, good experiences, value creation and important jobs all over the country.
“If the industry wants to grow, we depend on trust locally. We ensure that with this agreement.”
In recent years, the country has become an increasingly popular travel destination. In 2024, Norway saw a record-breaking 38 million visitors book accommodation.
Some destinations have struggled with the newfound popularity, especially when it comes to the public facilities are available.
Visitors to the famous Torghatten mountain trail often find themselves squatting in bushes to relieve themselves, while residents in more built-up areas like Tromsø have even found travellers using their back gardens as toilets.
Ms Myrseth says she hopes the new tax will be able to be used by areas under pressure from this new wave of visitors, by ensuring “trust between the local population and tourism”.
The initial proposal was criticised for not including cruise passengers, as many say the worst-affected areas, such as the Lofoten archipelago, can get overwhelmed when thousands of tourists pour off the ships, as the infrastructure there is designed to only handle a smaller local population.
However, the tax now appears to include charges to cruise ships, according to AFP, although it is unclear what form this will take.
Not everyone in Norway has been onboard with the new visitor subsidy, with the travel and tourism branch of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise warning it could put tourists off visiting and calling the tax “madness,” Euronews reports.
The proposal has also been criticised for focusing solely on overnight stays, leaving campervans and daytrippers exempt from the charge.
Einar Arve Nordang, the mayor of Stranda, a mountainous area that attracts skiers and hikers, as well as visitors to its quaint towns, said earlier this year that the proposal did not work for every area of Norway.
“It seems to me that the government’s proposal is primarily designed for Tromsø and other places where you are forced to stay overnight if you visit them,” she told NRK.
While not opposed to the tourist tax, villages such as Gerianger in Stranda have been advocating for years for day visit fees.
Now that the Norwegian parliament has settled on an agreement, the tax could be introduced as early as summer in 2026.
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