If it’s summer, it must be time for another tax grab on cruise by European ports

• A new report from a European environmental company suggests cruise ships should be taxed more.
• CLIA has responded, saying the cruise industry already pays a huge amount of tax.
• What could the impact of these new taxes be? And should we worry?

A recent report from the European Federation for Transport and Environment Group (T&E), an umbrella of non-governmental organisations, claimed that cruise ship passengers are taxed 40 per cent less than hotel customers.

It’s a bizarre comparison – hotels and cruise ships are, obviously, very different. B ut the European summer, when the cruise season is at its peak, almost always sees a plethora of campaigns to extract more money from tourism operators. Cruise in particular.

The move by the group, disparate group of campaigners seeking zero emissions and sustainable mobility, represents dozens of environmental and health organisations across Europe, advocating for policies that minimise transport’s impact on the climate, environment, and public health

The dynamic of Europe’s pushback against cruise is far different to situations we’ve seen in the Caribbean or Alaska, where there has been huge support for cruise tourism.

In Europe, we are seeing the opposite effect. Major turnaround ports are leveraging their position as popular cruise hubs and imposing more taxes and restrictions on the industry than ever before.

The T&E report argued that in countries like France, Italy and Spain, a hotel guest will pay 23 per cent of their total price in taxes, whereas cruise passengers only pay 12 per cent.

The organisation claimed this is used by cruise lines as a loophole and has called for a national levy.

“This loophole allows them to avoid paying VAT and fuel taxes, among other things. The main way to close this gap would be to implement national levies on cruise tickets.

“Right now in the European Union, only Greece has applied such a tax at a national level, ranging from €5 to €20 depending on the season. Elsewhere, cities such as Amsterdam, Barcelona or Dubrovnik have put such a system in place.”

However, a spokesperson for CLIA Europe disputed many parts of the report, and highlighted the economic impact of cruise for Europe. 

“Cruise cannot be accurately assessed through a selective tax comparison with hotels that fails to account for the sector’s full regulatory framework, operational complexity, environmental commitments and economic contribution.”

The spokesperson also highlighted that cruise lines already pay a range of taxes that hotels do not.

“Cruise lines pay substantial port dues, passenger charges and other local fees that support port operations, infrastructure and local services, in addition to meeting wider tax and regulatory obligations as a form of ocean-going transportation.”

Expanding the economic impact, CLIA mentioned: “Cruise also supports a vast value chain extending far beyond the ships themselves, generating employment and economic activity across shipbuilding, ports, maritime services, local suppliers, tour operators, hospitality businesses, transport providers and destination communities around the world.

“It is an industry that supports more than 69,000 jobs across the UK, while delivering significant economic benefits to the destinations it serves.”

The latest report could be used by towns and politicians to advocate for further taxes on the cruise industry.

Europe’s dilemma

Some European cities have been at loggerheads with the cruise industry for a few years.

Last year CLIA expressed its displeasure at the “operational challenges” that would come with a new tax on cruise passengers in Greece. Just a few weeks ago the World Travel & Tourism Council asked Barcelona to reconsider its plan to significantly increase taxes on cruise passengers as well.

The WTTC warned firmly against the risk of sudden tax hikes: “It is an industry that supports more than 69,000 jobs across the UK, while delivering significant economic benefits to the destinations it serves.”

We have seen cities and countries like Amsterdam, Venice, Nice, Dubrovnik, Valencia, Iceland, Norway and more pushing back against cruise tourism.

Politicians are seeing cruise ships as an easy target for overtourism, even in places where passengers only represent a small portion of total visitors. 

Will too many taxes kill European cruising?

While cruise tourism brings in billions for European nations, they are not reliant on the industry.

Europe is also in a different situation than the Caribbean or South Pacific islands, whose economies heavily rely on tourism. While many European countries see a decent chunk of their GDP come from the visitor economy, their economies are not reliant just on tourism.  

European destinations also have prestige and popularity attached to them. Regardless of taxes and restrictions, visitors will be willing to pay to visit world-class cities like Amsterdam, Rome, Barcelona and Venice, as well as bucket-list destinations like the Norwegian Fjords.  

Demand will always be there for European cruises, and cities are unlikely to back off on increased taxes. 

At the same time, cruise lines are already bolstering their presence across other regions that operate in the same season as Europe, such as Alaska, the California Coast and the Caribbean. This is all while European cruising grew five per cent in 2025, to a total of 8.9 million passengers. 

With cruise lines bringing out more new ships, it is unlikely cruise lines will look for alternative destinations, but rather solutions.

Santorini, which heaves with visitors during the summer season, has also introduced a seasonal tax. But Royal Caribbean has worked with the local government to create its own beach club. While guests and the cruise lines still pay the new tax, it helps manage the flow of cruise passengers onto the island.

Santorini, which heaves with visitors during the summer season, has also introduced a seasonal tax. But Royal Caribbean has worked with the local government to create its own beach club. While guests and the cruise lines still pay the new tax, it helps manage the flow of cruise passengers onto the island.

Other cruise lines are extending their cruise season and encouraging passengers to consider sailing in spring, autumn, and even the start of winter. Lines like Viking have pioneered off-season itineraries that are aimed at guests who have an interest in food, architecture, culture and history.

Luxury and small ship cruise lines like Azamara, Oceania Cruises, Regent Seven Seas, Silversea, Ponant and Explora Journeys regularly spend the night in port, encouraging guests to step off the ship to invest in the cities and towns’ night-time economy.

Countries like Greece have seen huge direct economic benefits from cruise tourism, which has spurred investments in cultural preservation.

Dubrovnik in Croatia has worked closely with CLIA and the cruise industry to help both residents and tourists. The city introduced a management system that includes real-time monitoring of tourist numbers, restricting the number of ships docking per day and more.

But will increased taxes kill the European cruise economy? Perhaps what we might see are different itineraries according to how welcoming destinations are to the industry. And unfortunately, perhaps higher cruise prices for those key destinations.

To keep European cruising as the classic holiday it is, cruise lines will need to keep innovating in sustainability measures as they’ve been doing and continue to work to demonstrate the value of cruise tourism to European cities. 

European cruising isn’t going anywhere, but it might look very different in a few years.