Lisbon City Council will introduce a €2 hike on the city’s tourist tax, effectively doubling it from €2 to €4, and includes cruise ship passengers.
According to Jornal de Negócios the goal is to adjust the amount charged on overnight stays to the “current expenditure on resources” that the council has to make.
In practice Lisbon City Council has to bolster its infrastructures, projects and activities in terms of mobility, urban cleansing, maintaining public spaces, security, tourism services, culture, and leisure offer in response to increasing tourist numbers.
“From the council’s point of view, this increase in expenditure because of tourist growth should not pile pressure on residents but should rather benefit local residents”, says the council.
In February, tourism grew by 7% in terms of the numbers of visitors to 1.8 million, overnight stays increased 6.4% to 4.3 million. Total revenues increased 13% to €276.4 million, and accommodation revenues grew 13.1% to €202.1 million like-for-like on 2023 according to the National Statistics Institute (INE).
The average revenue per available room (RevPAR) was €37.8 (+4.5%) and the average revenue per occupied room (ADR) stood at €83.8 (+6.0%).
The ADR achieved its highest revenues in Lisbon (€107.8) and Madeira (€85.6) according to the INE statistics.