Americans visiting Europe warned over unexpected costs aimed at tourists
Americans traveling to Europe in the near future should keep some extra cash aside for additional tourism fees that have been brought in.
Tourism can undeniably be great for the global economy. It 2024 alone, it was said that it contributed a staggering $11.1 trillion to the global GDP.
Last year then saw a four percent increase in international tourist arrivals, said UN Tourism.
Discussing these figures, UN Tourism Secretary-General Shaikha Alnuwais said at the time: "Demand for travel remained high throughout 2025, despite high inflation in tourism services and uncertainty from geopolitical tensions.
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"We expect this positive trend to continue into 2026 as global economy is expected to remain steady and destinations still lagging behind pre pandemic levels fully recover."
While most people celebrate high tourism rates, over-tourism is becoming more of a concern in some areas — this is the idea that extremely popular tourism attractions are being negatively impacted by the sheer amount of people traveling to the area.
One example of this is Venice, Italy, and, as a result, it was announced that it was bringing in daily charges for tourists back in 2023.
If you book your entry in advance it costs €5, but less organized individuals who don't do this will have to fork out €10 to enter the city.
Previously these fees only applied to 30 days of the yeae, but the Italian authorities have doubled this for 2026.
Starting on April 3, select days between then and July 26 will see people having to pay fees.
The exact dates, per TimeOut, are:
- April: 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30
- May: 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, 24, 29, 30, 31
- June: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28
- July: 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26
Tourists visiting Venice outside of these dates will not have to pay to enter the historic city.
The Italian capital of Rome brought in fees in 2026 too, with travelers having to pay €2 to enter to see attractions like the Trevi Foundation (which were previously free-to-visit).
Elsewhere, Edinburgh, Scotland, has become the first city in the UK to bring in tourism fees and people now have to pay five percent of the cost of the room they're staying in per night from July 24 onwards.
If you're hoping to see the beautiful tulips and windmills in the tiny Dutch town of Zaans Schans in the near future, you'll now have to pay €17.50 per day.
Reports have said that this will apply to tourists visiting from spring onwards, the BBC reported last year, but an exact date that the charges will come into force remains unclear.
Niamh Shackleton