Paris region given approval to triple its tourist tax

Last Tuesday, the head elected official for the Paris region, Valérie Pécresse, and the French transport minister, Clément Beaune, announced an agreement to allow for a 200 percent increase tourist tax in an effort add more funding to regional transport.

The tourist tax requires guests to pay a nightly fee on top of the rental price for their stay in tourist accommodation, including hotels, hostels, Airbnbs, and campsites. It is paid directly to the host who then passes the funding onto local authorities.

Local authorities at the commune level decide whether to impose the tax - it is in place in most of France's towns and cities and tourist areas.

After the 200 percent increase was approved by the greater Paris region, it will now be up to each commune - including the city of Paris - to decide whether to go for the maximum increase.  It would be imposed from January 2024. 

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Currently, the tourist tax in the Paris region ranges from €0.25 for the most modest campsites to €5 for the highest end hotels (palaces), paid per night per adult.

A breakdown of the tourist tax in Paris (Credit: Paris town hall)

So at present the tourist tax for a single room in a three-star hotel in Paris is €1.88 per night, or €3.76 if two adults share a double room. If the 200 percent increase is approved, that would rise to €5.68 per night for a single room or €11.28 for a double.

Pushback from the hotel industry

The president of the French hotel industry union, UMIH, Véronique Siegel told TF1 that the change would create a “tax overload that will have a lasting impact on the competitiveness of our companies”.

The general manager of the Hipotel hotel chain, Qin Wu, told Franceinfo that, because the fee is paid directly with hosts, “in practice, it’s very complicated because some customers refuse to pay.

“You have to put yourself in the mindset that customers don’t accept that," Wu added.

French government officials have cautioned that the increase of 200 percent may not be applied across the region, as it will be up to local authorities to choose to implement.

On Monday morning, France's minister for tourism, Olivia Grégoire, said on Franceinfo that the raise in the tax "is not obligatory, it is a maximum.

"The choice to apply it will remain in the hands of local authorities," Gregoire said.

Local officials in the Paris region have been considering trying to raise the tourist tax for some time. In September, Paul Simondon, the deputy mayor of Paris in charge of finances and budget, said in an interview with Le Parisien that he supported a change to the tourist tax so that it is proportional to the cost of the room, citing New York and Amsterdam as examples.

"Paying a flat rate of €4.60 per night for a suite costing several thousand euros is ridiculous. We must increase this tax before the Olympic Games, and now is the time to use this lever," he told Le Parisien.

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He argued that the increase "would have no impact on the attractiveness of hotels but could finance a greater share of public transport, which Ile-de-France residents and tourists alike need."

Similarly, Paris' mayor, Anne Hidalgo, has voiced support for an increase in the tax on higher-end 'luxury' hotels.

Funding for public transport

Grégoire de Lasteyrie, the vice president of Île-de-France (IDF) Mobilités - the public transport network for the Paris region - told Franceinfo that "the proposition could ultimately bring €200 million more per year to IDF Mobilités. Without this resource, that would be equivalent to an increase of €7 per Navigo pass.

"It's normal for everyone to do their part, including tourists."

In order for the plan to go into effect, it would also need to be included in the 2024 budget and voted on by France's parliament.

MPs will debate and vote on the budget bill later this autumn.