Currently, the value of the tourist tax for overnight stays is two euros, per guest and per night, but “the increase to four euros will come into effect on 1 September”, confirmed Lisbon City Council (CML), following the proposal approved in July by the municipality's representative bodies.

In response to Lusa news agency, the CML clarified that the tourist tax on arrivals by sea, with a fixed unit value of two euros per passenger (over the age of 13) disembarking from a cruise ship in transit, at terminals located in the municipality, will remain in force as it has been since January 1st of this year and will effectively be in force from April 1st.

In the city of Lisbon, the tourist tax began to be applied in January 2016 on overnight stays by national tourists (including locals) and foreigners in hotels or local accommodation establishments, “up to a maximum of seven nights per guest and per stay”, with guests under the age of 13 being exempt. Initially, it was one euro per night, but in January 2019 it increased to two euros and in September of this year it will double to four euros.

According to data from the CML, the annual revenue collected from the tourist tax has been increasing over the almost nine years that it has been charged by the municipality.

In the first three years, when the rate was one euro per night, the municipality received 46.5 million euros (ME), namely 11.4 ME in 2016, 16.5 ME in 2017, and 18.6 ME in 2018.

In 2019, the year in which the rate increased to two euros per night, the CML collected 36.1 ME, but the growth trend in the annual value of this revenue was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, declared in March 2020 and which lasted until May 2023 (according to the World Health Organization).

In this context, the worst year for Lisbon's accounts was 2021, when the amount collected was 9.9 million euros, lower than the 12.1 million euros achieved in 2020.

Although the pandemic continued beyond 2020 and 2021, there was a significant recovery in 2022, with the tourist tax amounting to 33.1 million euros, reaching its record in 2023, with 40.2 million euros.

This year, up to 31 July, the Lisbon City Council had 25.3 million euros in revenue from the tourist tax, which from January onwards began to include cruise ship passengers, although the local authority is still unable to specify the specific amount in this area since the arrival tax by sea is charged by the entities responsible for operating the cruise ship terminals.

In total, between January 2016 and July this year, Lisbon generated revenue of 203.2 million euros thanks to the collection of tourist taxes.

When asked about the impact of the increase in the tourist tax on overnight stays from 1 September, the Lisbon City Council stated that “several indicators point to similar or slightly higher figures in the number of overnight stays in the city of Lisbon in 2023”.

Under the presidency of Carlos Moedas (PSD), the Lisbon City Council reinforced that tourism is a distinctive factor in the city’s competitiveness and a driver of economic and social growth, stressing that it also “has an impact on public intervention to maintain adequate levels of response, dictating the need to define regulatory policies and/or direct public intervention to ensure Lisbon’s sustainability in economic, social and environmental terms, and minimize negative externalities”.

Regarding the application of funds from the tourist tax, the Portuguese capital's local authority reiterated that the positive effects of tourism imply the reinforcement of urban infrastructure and the functioning of the city, namely the expansion of public interventions in terms of infrastructure, mobility, urban cleaning, public spaces, security and the tourist, cultural and leisure offer, “in an effort that should not burden residents, but rather be supported by those who benefit, directly or proportionally, from the goods and services made available by municipal activity, together with the mitigation of negative impacts caused by the tourist dynamics itself, more or less directly”.

As for specific examples of the application of this revenue, the CML stated that “around eight million euros per year are earmarked for partial financing of the reinforcement of urban hygiene and cleaning” and highlighted investments made with funds from the tourist tax, namely the Doca da Marinha, Estação Sul-Sueste, Museu Tesouro Real and Centro Interpretativo da Ponte 25 de Abril