The mayor of Funchal said that the tax applied to cruise passengers will have the same value as the one that, from 1 October this year, will also start to be charged on overnight stays in hotels and local accommodation establishments in the city.

“For now, we will apply two euros per night and per guest to hotels and local accommodation, from 1 October this year. And there was a commitment with CLIA, which we honoured because we are people who honour our commitments, to apply the same tourist tax rate, from 1 January 2025”, said Cristina Pedra, during the signing of a protocol with the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), which provides for the planting of plants endemic to Madeira in the Funchal Ecological Park.

The mayor of Funchal explained that the adoption of the tax aims to address “the increase in costs of tourism itself and the pressure of tourism” in the city, since, despite having only 115 thousand inhabitants, Funchal receives 100 thousand tourists every day, in addition to “more than 50 thousand people who live between Ribeira Brava and Santa Cruz and who come to Funchal for work or business reasons”.

“This is putting enormous pressure on Funchal”, lamented the mayor, noting that the amount found, of two euros per night or per cruise passenger, is “much lower than in some areas of the country and, certainly, in Europe”. Nikos Mertzadinis, vice-president of ports and destinations at CLIA Europe, highlighted the importance of the agreement reached with the Funchal municipality on this issue, considering that “the destinations must be in excellent condition and the local residents must be satisfied in order to receive cruise passengers”.

According to the official, CLIA is therefore satisfied with the agreement reached regarding the tourist tax to be applied to cruise passengers, since “everyone must pay their fair share of taxes”. “This is what the municipality asked us to do and it was done with great transparency. Our passengers know what they are paying and, in this way, we have time to adapt our business model and for the cruise companies to adapt to the new tourist taxes. This was achieved graciously thanks to the municipality of Funchal”, said the CLIA director.

Nikos Mertzadinis also said he hoped that this agreement would demonstrate “how committed cruise companies are to Madeira and its destinations”, in order to guarantee not only environmental but also social sustainability.