Another European country looks set to crackdown on tourism by whacking a tax on visitors flocking to its most beautiful island.
Sweden’s paradise island Gotland is renowned for its beautiful sandy beaches, its characterful wilderness and its whopping 92 medieval churches.
Located in the Baltic sea, this Scandinavian island is seeing visitor numbers surge meaning that overtourism is starting to take its toll on Gotland.
With just a population of 61,000, locals are becoming tired of the summer rush when the island is filled to the brim with tourists.
Artist Pia Ingelse, who lives in Visby, Gotland said: “July is absolutely disgusting. I think they should limit the number of people who can come here”.
Nearly one million people visit the island annually affecting residents’ daily lives, infrastructure and resources.
With visitor numbers rising the island’s regional mayor has had enough and is proposing that Gotland follows many other European cities and imposes a tourist tax.
Many second home owners stay in Gotland for the duration of the summer using Gotland’s healthcare and water while their taxes end up at their home municipalities.
Mayor Meit Fohlin believes it should be possible to “pay tax for those months that goes to Gotland or where you own a summer house. Other places do that and it would be a fairly straightforward solution”.
Locals are now advocating that Gotland doesn’t become a tourist hotspot as many local amenities close.
“Properties are being converted into restaurants and tourist accommodation. People are moving away and there is a danger that the city will become a backdrop without life”, says founder Katarina Söderdahl to the Bonnier-owned Dagens Nyheter.
Whilst in the summer landlords prefer to rent their properties out to tourists where they charge a much higher price and only want ‘regular’ tenants in the off seasons, according to the Nordic Times.
