Planning a visit to New Zealand? Why you might have to pay more this year

Starting Oct. 1, just in time for spring and summer in the Southern Hemisphere, New Zealand will nearly triple a tax it levies on international visitors.

If you’re planning a trip to Hobbiton and hoping to see Bilbo Baggins’s home in the Shire, you might have to shell out more money starting this year. New Zealand is nearly tripling a tax it levies on tourists entering the country.

Many tourists, people on working holidays, and some students and workers coming to New Zealand must currently pay an International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL) of NZ$35, (C$30). Starting Oct. 1, just in time for spring and summer in the Southern Hemisphere, this levy will increase to NZ$100 (C$84).

“The number of visitors coming to New Zealand has grown strongly over the past few years and growth is expected to continue. The IVL is your contribution to maintaining the facilities and natural environment you will use and enjoy during your stay,” New Zealand Immigration said in a statement.

Travellers who don’t need to pay the IVL are those arriving on an Australian or New Zealand passport or on a passport from some Pacific Island nations. An Australian or New Zealand resident or a person with a Business Visitor Visa or APEC business travel card can also avoid the tax.

New Zealand is the latest country to evaluate the impacts of tourism. Over the course of July, thousands of locals hit the streets of Spain’s major tourist destinations saying they’ve had enough of tourists. The protests are the latest in an anti-tourist sentiment gripping much of Europe, with experts warning that they could have ripple effects all over the world.

From Barcelona to Mallorca, Spanish protesters have called for a more balanced approach to tourism, arguing that the sector has been contributing to the country’s housing crisis.

In April this year, the City of Venice, Italy, launched a pilot program to charge day-trippers a five-euro (US$5.35) entry fee that authorities hope will discourage visitors from arriving on peak days and make the city more livable for its dwindling residents.

“We need to find a new balance between the tourists and residents,’’ said Simone Venturini, the city’s top tourism official. “We need to safeguard the spaces of the residents, of course, and we need to discourage the arrival of day-trippers on some particular days.”