It’s a discreet line on the bill, but one that weighs more and more heavily. For the 2026 season, many tourist municipalities have increased their tourist tax, sometimes by doublingeven in the tripling depending on the accommodation category. A movement particularly visible in PACA, in the Alpes-Maritimes, in Vendée, but also in several mountain resorts.
Behind these spectacular increases, a budgetary reality: “The municipalities simply need money. They face increasingly higher costs while the housing tax has been abolished”summarizes Éric Allouche, executive director of the ERA Immobilier network. For municipalities, the tourist tax is an almost painless lever politically, because it is borne by passing tourists rather than residents. For owners of tourist accommodation, on the other hand, the impact is twofold: less competitive overall price and administrative burden of collection and repayment to absorb.
Who pressed the accelerator the hardest?
The law sets a national scale, but leaves broad freedom to municipalities and intermunicipalities to vote their prices within a given range. In 2026, legal prices range from 0.20 euros per night for an unclassified campsite at 4.40 euros for a palacethis last threshold having now been reached in several intermunicipalities. In the Var and the Alpes-Maritimes, certain municipalities have chosen to cap their prices at their legal maximum on all categories simultaneously, causing average increases of 60% to 150% depending on the standard of accommodation.
In Vendée, the Community of Communes Océan Marais de Monts revised its scales on January 1, 2026, explicitly invoking the need to finance tourist facilities without increasing local direct taxation. For unclassified accommodation (the vast majority of Airbnb rentals), the calculation changes in nature: the tax becomes a percentage of the price excluding tax of the night, between 1% and 5%capped at the highest rate voted by the community.
A painless additional cost for tourists
For vacationers, the increase often remains drowned out in the overall budget of the stay. “When you are a tourist in a place, you are not going to give up because there are a few euros more on the tourist tax”estimates Éric Allouche. According to him, international tourist demand will easily absorb these increases, especially in popular destinations. For municipalities, the challenge is therefore not to “go too far”, in order to avoid psychological threshold where the additional cost would become too visible, compared to another destination.
Owners of gîtes and rentals, what this changes for you
For owners of gîtes, guest rooms, seasonal rentals or second homes rented on Airbnb, the rise of tourist tax is not neutral. First, a tax that doubles or triples increases the total price paid by the vacationer, at the risk of switching a stay to a neighboring town with less tax. But also, it is necessary to check, each time the scale changes, that the correct amount is collected by the platform or invoiced directly, keep a register and repay the amounts to the community on time.
If the large platforms collect on behalf of hosts in most municipalities, this does not exempt owners from controlling the amounts. The fact remains that, for Éric Allouche, “the tourist tax is not the central subject for the profitability of a tourist property: it is above all the purchase price, the work, the financing and the taxation on income which make the difference. »
Can we challenge an increase deemed abusive?
It’s possible, but the path is narrow. The tourist tax is set by deliberation of the municipal council or the deliberative body of the EPCI, a regulatory act which must be adopted before July 1 of the year to apply on January 1 of the following year. You can always ask for the graceful appeal to the mayor or the president of the intermunicipality, invoking a manifest disproportion or a procedural defect (failure to publish, deadline not respected).
Otherwise launch an appeal for abuse of power before the administrative court, within two months following the publication of the deliberation. This procedure is rarely initiated by individuals, due to lack of means, but owners’ associations or hotel unions have used it successfully to have poorly written deliberations canceled.
