Riga introduces tourism tax

RIGA - Riga is introducing a tourism tax as of January 1, 2023 under a regulation on the accommodation of vacationers and tourists, approved last year by the city council.

All tourist accommodation establishments will be charged EUR 1 per each visitor's overnight stay but no more than EUR 10 if a visitor stays in the capital city longer.

According to the Riga local government, tourism taxes are already common across Europe and is already in place in such popular tourist destinations as Berlin, Amsterdam, Rome, Venetia, Vienna, Brussels, Lisbon and elsewhere.

The size of the tourist tax and rates differ across various cities and depending on the category of each given tourist facility or season.

Revenue earned from the tourist tax will be used to finance tourism promoting projects or infrastructure, as well as to raise Riga's international profile.

Riga City Council in September 2019 supported the proposal to introduce the tourism tax as of 2021. However, because of the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the introduction of the tax was postponed as tourist numbers plummeted.