Tourism chief says proposed visitor fee’s legal risks are no surprise

Jóhannes Þór Skúlason, executive director of the tourism association Samtök ferðaþjónustunnar, says a legal opinion warning that a proposed nature and infrastructure fee could breach the EEA Agreement comes as no surprise, Morgunblaðið reports.

The opinion, commissioned by municipalities in the uplands of Árnessýsla, says the fee would conflict with the agreement if enacted and could leave the state liable for damages. Morgunblaðið reported on the opinion the previous day.

Skúlason said the association had made similar points in a detailed submission to the government’s consultation portal, arguing that the assumptions in the proposal’s explanatory memorandum might not hold. He said the tourism industry had received no response from the government about the legal opinion. He assumed the Ministry of Industries had reviewed the matter, but did not know what position it would take.

Speaking from the World Travel Market trade fair in London, where Icelandic tourism companies were selling trips to travel sellers, Skúlason also raised concerns about the country’s competitiveness. A growing share of visitors say a trip to Iceland is not worth the cost: 11% held that view in 2022, compared with 18% last year, according to surveys by the Icelandic Tourist Board.

He said companies had found in recent years that Iceland was seen as an expensive destination compared with some competitors. The proposed fee, along with other planned charges such as a higher value-added tax on bathing lagoons, could add to that pressure, he said.

Tourism companies selling trips for next year and beyond do not yet know the final terms of the proposed charges, Skúlason said. They cannot include the fee in prices, business plans or contracts until Parliament decides whether to approve it and sets its level. He said the lack of advance certainty made planning difficult.