Riga to introduce tourism tax as of next year

RIGA - Riga, like many other cities in Europe and elsewhere in the world, will introduce a tourism tax as of January 1, 2023, LETA was told at the Communication Department of Riga City Hall.

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. 

In Lithuania, Kaunas introduced tourist tax in 2016 and the capital city Vilnius in 2018. 

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.