Mayor urges tourism tax to relieve services pressure

Athens Mayor Kostas Bakoyannis on Tuesday called for the introduction of a city tax to be paid by visitors toward the municipal authority to help it respond to increased pressure on services from the influx of tourists.

The Greek capital “has 650,000 permanent residents and serves 3.5 million people a day,” he told a meeting of the Union of Municipalities and Communities (KEDE).

“How does that equation work? It’s very simple. We’ve failed systematically,” added the mayor, arguing Athens should introduce a tax similar to that in cities like Brussels, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Barcelona and Prague, where visitors are charged a few euros per night of their stay via their accommodation fee.

Bakoyannis also accused public services and organizations of failing to pay their bills and municipal taxes, saying, “The biggest cheapskate in Greece and in the Municipality of Athens today is the state itself.”