New tourist tax will soon make visiting Iceland more expensive

fne8w2ah@lemmy.world to World News@lemmy.world – 170 points –
New tourist tax will soon make visiting Iceland more expensive
euronews.com
15

You are viewing a single comment

That is somewhat true but what this also causes is that poorer people have a harder time travelling and visiting other countries while rich people are unnaffected

The common good and environment of a nation has priority over cheap tourism, so I don't necessarily see that as a problem. Especially when the number of annual tourists exceeds the population by a factor of five in the case of Iceland, I can understand why some residents would like to reduce it.

I’m not against reducing tourism. But it’s possible to do it in a way that is less elitist

Could you elaborate on the possible ways to do that?

I'm sure the entire government of Iceland, including any departments dedicated specifically to, and with decades of experience in tourism, could figure it out if they really wanted. But just charging a tax is easier, so here we are.

Considering the climate crisis we're facing I don't care, anything to reduce air travel. All countries should turn non-local private jets around too.