Tourist taxes are new to England but have long been standard practice across continental Europe, where they have proved a lucrative source of income for local authorities, particularly in Italy. Cities typically charge visitors a nightly per-person fee on top of accommodation costs, usually collected at checkout, with the money nominally earmarked for local services and infrastructure strained by tourism.

The practice dates back to Austria's 1842 levy on spa-town visitors and later spread to France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. Italy's tax was widened under Mussolini, scrapped for the 1990 World Cup, then reintroduced nationally in 2011, starting with Rome. Rates now typically run from €1 to €10 a night depending on destination, rising to €12 for five-star hotels in Milan, and Venice also charges day-trippers a separate entry fee. In 2024 the levy raised €222.4m in Rome, €109.3m in Milan, €82.9m in Florence and €38.9m in Venice, though hoteliers say cash-strapped councils often divert the funds away from the services they were meant to fund.