Electronic travel authorisations, tourist tax, city tax. Many destinations have long added an extra fee for travel into their countries. And 2025 is shaping up to be a year of new or additional payments to factor into travel programmes. Stay up-to-date about changing entry requirements with our handy guide to what’s new in visas and travel regulations.
Electronic travel authorisations
Applications for the UK’s £10 Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme are now open to all eligible non-European visitors. This includes visitors from the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and South Korea.
Travellers who don’t require a visa for short-stay visits, from the eligible countries, have been able to complete the online pre-travel authorisations needed to enter the UK since 8 January.
The requirement will then extend to travellers from European countries from 2 April 2025, with applications for these travellers available from 5 March.
It’s worth noting that the UK Government has conducted a review of fees and intends to raise the ETA fee from £10 to £16 and will confirm a date of all fees increases once parliamentary processes have concluded.
Subject to parliamentary approval, fees across a range of other immigration and nationality services will also increase. Any increase to the fees will take place following the conclusion of the parliamentary process.
On 1 January this year, Israel launched its ETA-IL Electronic Travel Authorisation system. This system requires citizens from 99 visa-exempt countries to apply for electronic authorisation before travelling.
And South Africa is developing an Electronic Travel Authorisation system, set to launch in 2025.
Elsewhere, from the end of January, Australians will begin to have access to the US Global Entry and TSA PreCheck programmes, when 1,000 Australians will be able to participate in a ‘Phase 1’ trial. Participants in the Global Entry Australia trial must be Australian citizens who have travelled to the United States at least five times in the previous 12 months. The start of phase 2 has yet to be advised but will remove the need for a minimum number of US trips.
Destinations with new and upcoming tourist tax
As of last year, Venice, Italy, imposed a tourist tax on visitors to the city. Outside of Europe, the Indonesian government also announced a tourist tax on travellers visiting Bali.
It’s expected that Edinburgh, Scotland, will introduce a levy in 2026, following Manchester, which became the first UK city to introduce a tourist tax – known as the City Visitor Charge.
Hong Kong resumed its Hotel Accommodation Tax at a rate of 3% from the 1st January 2025.
Destinations that already have a tourist tax include: Austria, Belgium, Bhutan, Bulgaria, Caribbean Islands, Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Portugal (inc. Madeira), Thailand, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Slovenia, Spain and the US.
EES and ETIAS – latest news
Keep an eye out for the launch of the European Union’s much-delayed Entry-Exit System (EES) this year.
Non-EU nationals will have to go through an EES when travelling to the EU member states.
This automated IT system, capturing biometric data, will register travellers from outside of the EU or Schengen Zone every time they cross an EU external border. It will also monitor if the traveller is staying within the rules of the Schengen visa entry and exit rules. Non-EU passport holders can only stay 90 days within 180 in the Schengen area. Longer stays will require different visas depending on where they are travelling to and from.
The delay of the EES had also pushed back the introduction of the European Travel and Authorisation System (ETIAS), which is now expected to be rolled out six months after the launch of the EES.
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