Copenhagen Municipality moves forward with tourist tax plan
A tax on tourists in Copenhagen is a step closer to reality after the city’s municipal council voted in favour of it.
The city council at Copenhagen Municipality on Thursday evening voted to move forward on plans to introduce a tax on tourists, following a model seen in a number of other European cities.
The vote was tight, with conservative parties generally voting against, local media TV2 Kosmopol reported. The parties argue such a tax could damage the already-expensive Copenhagen’s competitiveness as a tourist destination.
While 32 representatives backed the plan, some 20 – from the Conservative, Liberal, Liberal Alliance and Danish People’s parties, alongside the centre-left Social Liberals (Radikale Venstre), voted against.
More tax on tourists would be a “regrettable signal to send”, the Liberal party’s councillor Jens Kristian Lütken said.
Tourists are a group that “already put a lot of tax into the city”, he said.
The Social Liberal city councillor Mia Nyegaard said that “Denmark and Copenhagen are already among the most expensive places to visit in the Nordics”.
“Tourism is an export industry and we are in competition with both Stockholm and Oslo here,” she said.
But council member Rasmus Steenberger of centre-left party SF called the tax a “win-win situation” for both residents and visitors to the capital, saying it would make tourism “sustainable”.
Steenberger said the tax should not be high, but that he supports its implementation.
A proposed tax would have to be adopted by parliament and could therefore still fail after the municipality has put the model together.
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The city council at Copenhagen Municipality on Thursday evening voted to move forward on plans to introduce a tax on tourists, following a model seen in a number of other European cities.
The vote was tight, with conservative parties generally voting against, local media TV2 Kosmopol reported. The parties argue such a tax could damage the already-expensive Copenhagen’s competitiveness as a tourist destination.
While 32 representatives backed the plan, some 20 – from the Conservative, Liberal, Liberal Alliance and Danish People’s parties, alongside the centre-left Social Liberals (Radikale Venstre), voted against.
More tax on tourists would be a “regrettable signal to send”, the Liberal party’s councillor Jens Kristian Lütken said.
Tourists are a group that “already put a lot of tax into the city”, he said.
The Social Liberal city councillor Mia Nyegaard said that “Denmark and Copenhagen are already among the most expensive places to visit in the Nordics”.
“Tourism is an export industry and we are in competition with both Stockholm and Oslo here,” she said.
But council member Rasmus Steenberger of centre-left party SF called the tax a “win-win situation” for both residents and visitors to the capital, saying it would make tourism “sustainable”.
Steenberger said the tax should not be high, but that he supports its implementation.
A proposed tax would have to be adopted by parliament and could therefore still fail after the municipality has put the model together.
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