Visitors to Denmark’s capital could soon pay a tourist tax after it was approved recently by the Copenhagen Municipal Council.
The proposal has faced opposition from conservative parties as they fear it could harm Copenhagen’s competitiveness as a popular tourist destination, reports eturbonews.com. There were 20 votes against the tax and 32 in favour of it.
Mia Nyegaard, a Social Liberal city councillor who voted against it, emphasised that Copenhagen was one of the most expensive destinations in the Nordics, and that tourism was essential to its competitive advantage against Stockholm and Oslo.
Jens Kristian Lütken, a councillor from the Liberal party who also voted against the tax, argued that tourism currently contributed significantly to the city’s tax revenue.
However, Rasmus Steenberger, a councillor from SF, the centre-left party who voted in favour, said the moderate tax proposed would be a beneficial measure to ensure peace for the city’s residents and to encourage visitors to practise sustainable travel.
