Amsterdam Tourist Tax May Rise as Overnight Stays Hit 23.7M

Amsterdam’s new coalition government plans to raise the tourist tax on overnight stays from 12.5 percent to 16 percent in 2027.

After that, the tax would increase by one percentage point each year until it reaches 20 percent in 2030. The city says the goal is to make visitors pay a larger share of the costs linked to tourism, including cleaning, public space maintenance, enforcement, and pressure on local services.

Amsterdam’s hotel bills are getting heavier

Amsterdam is already expensive for visitors. The current tourist tax is 12.5 percent of the accommodation price, excluding VAT, and cruise passengers pay a separate €15 ($17.29) per day tourist tax. A higher rate would make final hotel bills even larger, especially because the Netherlands also raised VAT on short-stay accommodation from 9 percent to 21 percent in 2026.

The plan follows another record year for tourism

The proposal comes after Amsterdam recorded 23.7 million tourist overnight stays in 2025, about 800,000 more than in 2024. That is well above the city’s target of keeping annual overnight stays below 20 million. The target was created to protect livability, but the latest numbers show that demand remains stronger than the city expected. Amsterdam is still popular for culture, nightlife, events, business travel, and short European city breaks.

Amsterdam is also limiting hotels and cruises

The tax increase is part of a wider shift in Amsterdam’s tourism policy. In 2024, the city restricted new hotel development. A new hotel can generally only be built if another hotel closes, the total number of sleeping places does not increase, and the new project improves quality, for example through sustainability. The city is also reducing sea cruise calls at the main terminal from 190 to 100 per year from 2026, with longer-term plans to move cruise activity away from the center.

Amsterdam is not the only European city making tourism more expensive to manage overtourism. Barcelona is also moving in the same direction: Catalonia approved a major tourist tax increase for Barcelona, with hotel guests expected to pay around €10 to €15 ($11.53 to $17.29) per night, depending on hotel category.

Photo by Javier M. on Unsplash