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Mayor of Swedish island Gotland proposes tourist tax for summer visitors

Hundreds of thousands of tourists visit the Baltic Sea island of Gotland every summer, with many staying for months. Now, the island's regional mayor wants them to pay their dues.

Published: 28 June 2024 08:58 CEST

Mayor of Swedish island Gotland proposes tourist tax for summer visitors

Visby, on the island of Gotland, is the best preserved medieval city in Scandinavia and a popular tourist destination. Photo: Fredrik Sandberg/TT

Tourist hotspots around Europe are struggling with surging visitor numbers, with overtourism taking its toll on cities and the people who live in them.

Venice introduced a €5 tourist tax for day-trippers in April, and cities and towns in Spain, France, the Netherlands and Austria have all had similar issues with tourists having a negative impact on locals.

Stay away! How Europe’s most popular spots are fighting overtourism

Imposing extra taxes on tourists is not allowed in Sweden, but the regional mayor of Gotland, Meit Fohlin, wants to change that, reports public radio broadcaster SR Ekot.

The island, whose economy relies on tourism, is a beautiful and popular summer holiday destination, with the largest wave of tourists arriving straight after the Almedalen political week at the end of June.

Many mainlanders own a second home and stay there for months, using the island’s resources – healthcare, water, at-home care – while their tax money ends up in their home municipalities.

“It’s important that tourism continues to be an important industry, and local industries then need contributions,” said Fohlin.

She said 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”.

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What you need to know about travel in Sweden this summer

What’s the weather going to be like?

Sweden is (usually) the perfect country to visit in summer – long, warm days that never really turn into night, but not as suffocatingly hot as southern Europe.

It’s hard to know whether that will be the case this year. According to SVT’s forecast for the summer, there are three possible scenarios for the Swedish weather, depending on where a forecast high pressure front ends up.

If the high pressure front ends up in the east, closer to Scandinavia, then summer could be very hot.
If the low pressure front in the west expands further east, then the weather will be more rainy and unstable – although there would probably be some periods with hot weather coming in from the east.
Sweden and Finland end up with warm weather from the east, with cold weather in the west. This is the most unpredictable option, as there’s a possibility the low pressure front could move up from the south, bringing with it high temperatures and a lot of rain.

Keep up-to-date with weather alerts via Sweden’s meteorological office SMHI, whether that’s flood alerts or a risk of wildfire.

You can also keep up to date with any fire bans here.

A standard fire ban means that you’re not allowed to light fires in the wild, but you may still light a fire at designated spots for grilling. This could even be upgraded to a total fire ban – no fires permitted at all – if temperatures get too hot.

You should also keep an eye on local hosepipe bans or appeals to save water. You can always use water for food, drink and personal hygiene, but perhaps you can help avert a water shortage by having shorter showers and not letting the tap run longer than needed.

Restaurant closures and empty cities

Swedes take long summer holidays, with most full-time workers legally entitled to four consecutive weeks off in June, July or August. If you’re planning a city break, be aware that a lot of shops and restaurants close for several weeks, as Swedes leave the cities and head to their countryside summer houses. You will still find some places open, though.

Travel disruptions

If you’re travelling by train, be aware that several parts of the rail network are being upgraded this summer, so you should expect altered routes and replacement buses. Here’s a list and map of planned construction work.

You can also keep up-to-date via the Swedish Transport Administration’s website. Click here and scroll down to trafikinformation, where you can choose train (tåg), road (väg) or car ferry (vägfärja). You can also sign up for text messages about the traffic situation here.

If you’re driving, read this to avoid parking fines. The speed limit in Sweden is usually 50 km/h in villages, towns and cities, 70 km/h in the countryside and 110 km/h on the motorways, but it does vary and there are nearly always signs stating the speed limit.

Not sure what to do in Sweden this summer? Check out this guide from our readers.

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