Several tourist municipalities want to be able to charge a special tourist tax.
But the industry organization Visita warns of fewer tourists and that the visitor industry would be severely affected.
We are already heavily taxed and it would be very difficult to get another tax, says Visita's business policy chief Anna Wallén.
She states that many companies in the visitor industry have already been hard hit by cost increases and higher employer fees.
Wallén does not believe that, for example, a fee of ten kronor per person and hotel night could be introduced without the number of visitors decreasing.
We have seen when interviewing tourists that they would choose to avoid certain places, says Wallén.
Common in tourist countries
SVT has asked the municipal council chairmen and vice chairmen in 30 municipalities with many guest nights if they want a tourist tax to be allowed in their municipality. In eleven of the municipalities, one or both politicians answer yes. Eight of the municipalities did not respond at all.
In many tourist countries, local tourist taxes are common, usually charged per hotel night. At Visita, they are worried that this discussion will take off in Sweden.
I think you should be very cautious about raising this discussion, says Wallén.
The visitor industry in Sweden contributes to a lot of job opportunities in rural areas.
She also points out that there are very few places in Sweden that are affected by mass tourism, even if the pressure can be high in certain areas during a short period of the year.
S: Interesting question
The question of allowing municipal tourist taxes has been raised in parliament before. In a motion from 2022, for example, former Rural Minister Anna-Caren Sätherberg (S) proposed an overnight fee of 10-30 kronor.
The Social Democrats' economic policy spokesperson Mikael Damberg thinks the question is interesting and says it may be discussed at the party's next congress.
Obviously, there is a discussion going on in Tourist Sweden, he says.
The Green Party's rural policy spokesperson Emma Nohrén thinks that a tax can be an interesting proposal.
The Left Party wants to see an investigation into the possibility of charging local bed taxes.
The Center Party's business policy spokesperson Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist says that her party wants to make it possible for municipalities to decide for themselves whether companies in the visitor industry should charge a tourist tax, whose revenue would go to strengthening the local visitor industry.
Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson (M) declines to comment on the issue.
