In the last few days, I read the news in some newspapers: Caldas Novas - a national destination in Goiás, a thermal destination known for mass tourism - has just approved the collection of a tourism tax from 2025 ( Folha de SP , Metropolis , Correio Braziliense ).
In one of the reports, it is said that the population of Caldas Novas and tourists were Angry with the fact. Revolt linked to the fear of reducing flows, consequently, income and occupancy of hotel enterprises. Perhaps also linked to the lack of clarity of what the tax can do for the ordering of the destination.
We have already observed models being tested in different locations. Venice , an icon global tourist destination of the Overtourism (excessive, unbalanced tourism), instituted a visitation tax to manage its flows. It varies between 5 and 10 Euros, is charged per person who accesses the city and who will not stay overnight, to be paid for visitation on specific dates and times, with a calendar published the previous year. In 2024, more than 3 million Euros were raised in the 29 days of the collection. For 2025, there will be 59 days to be charged on days of peak flows (questions are answered in this FAQ very nice, by the way, with explanations from locals).
In Mexico, the state of Quintana Roo , where Cancun and other high-traffic destinations are located, charges a fee of USD 17 per foreigner visiting the locality. The explanation: " a world-renowned destination that attracts millions of visitors each year and, as such, requires significant investments to support its growth and ensure a positive experience for all visitors (A destination that attracts millions of tourists a year requires significant investments to support its growth and ensure a positive experience for all visitors).
In Brazil, Fernando de Noronha (PE) is the place best known for the charge, which has been taking place since 2004 to tourists visiting the archipelago. Also Firecrackers (SC) and Jericoacora (CE) are some national destinations that already have tourism taxes for local preservation. In Bombinhas, the charge is made per vehicle that accesses the locality, only during the summer (from November to February). In Jeri, the fee is charged per person for stays of up to 10 days, and it is necessary to pay additional for each day of stay. Beautiful (MS) will start charging in 2025, with the amount of R$ 15 reais per day that travelers pass through the destination.
The tourism tax - called in some places TPA (Environmental Preservation Tax) - is an economic instrument that allows for stimulating or discouraging behavior.
I will explain why the rate can be positive, concerns and indicate some aspects to be observed so that it can revert into positive results for the destination.
The rate is positive when...
It allows you to better manage flows, within the reality of each destination. And when it allows the destination to enable investments for actions that help preserve its attractions, improve the quality of life of the population and the tourist experience, mitigate the losses generated by excessive visitation. That is, it can be an aggregate in the search for balancing visions and implementing them within the destination.
If used to generate collective benefits, the rate is positive. Examples of investments: depolluting a spring, improving the forest fire brigade, planting trees in public spaces, implementing a bike path, increasing the accessibility of sidewalks, installing waste management with a focus on the circular economy, promoting environmental education, implementing safety practices in attractions, promoting regenerative tourism practices, doing research and studies on the impacts of tourism itself, and so on.
Concerns to keep in mind
The first of these is the excessive elitization of the destination, that is, the increase in the cost of visitation to the point of receiving only those who have a very high purchasing power, generating exclusion of a significant part of the population. Another concern is the lack of clarity: where does the money go, what is it spent on, who decides this, where are the benefits?
What needs to be ensured for TPA to make sense:
- Be participatory : the community needs to participate in defining the use of the resource, according to priorities. Where are the greatest losses caused by tourism? Where would this benefit be a priority and most visible? The community is made up of several groups - some directly linked to tourism and others not. Everyone needs to have a space for listening and participation. After observed results, initial concerns that the rate harmed the destination will probably be abandoned.
- Be transparent and with strong governance : people in the community - residents, entrepreneurs, etc - need to know how much was collected and how the resource was used. Periodic reports, public hearings, accountability are fundamental. In addition, the agreed rules for the investment of the resource must be clear and auditable to avoid mistrust and corruption. With clarity in the application of the resource, the instrument gains legitimacy.
- Be feasible to implement and supervise: There are destinations that decide to charge fees without prior definition of who charges, how they collect, who inspects, how they pay. This makes the instrument doomed to fail. Either it falls into disuse, or it does not serve what it is proposed. These questions need to be answered in local regulations. There also needs to be attention so that the mechanisms for operating the fee are not so expensive that they exceed the collection of the fee itself - the famous transaction costs higher than the results.
- Be consistent with the behaviors to be rewarded : the destination needs to know its challenging points and what behaviors it wants to encourage beforehand. This serves to decide how the exemptions, values and charges will be. If I want longer stays, I need to reward this behavior. If I want people to stay for less time, I can raise the price for longer stays. For example, it would make no sense for me to "reward" with exemption those who do not stay overnight in the city if this public tends to cause more negative impacts and less positive impacts in their locality. Each destination needs to have its own needs assessment.
- Be favorable to a good tourist journey : it must be easy and simple to understand and pay. Tourists need information in advance to prepare, understand and, preferably, be stimulated to appropriate behaviors in that destination. Radars, easy systems, different technologies can be applied for this. No one wants a tourist in a queue at the time of arrival, accessing an unfriendly system, that does not accept the means of payment he has or that does not speak his language to pay a fee. In other words, the interaction for the payment of the fee will also be part of his experience at the destination.
