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The maturity of the tourism destinations, along with the sector’s growing competitiveness and evolving tourist habits, demands the implementation of a series of strategies to increase the sustainability of these destinations while improving the tourism experience. Therefore, the imposition of taxes and/or fees on distinct tourism activities has become a viable option for the financing of these policies. The objective of this study is to determine the amounts of taxes and/or public fees that tourists appear to be more willing to pay in order to improve the sustainability and experience of the mature tourism destination. It also attempts to identify the factors that determine tourists’ willingness to pay. The study was carried out in Andalusia, a prominently touristic region of southern Spain, which received 32.4 million tourists in 2019. To do so, a survey was conducted on 1068 tourists at the main tourism arrival points of this region. First, the results identify the dimensions of taxes and/or public fees that tourists are more willing to pay, linked to environmental factors and tourism services. Second, the following factors were found to influence the tourists’ willingness to pay these taxes: the purpose of the trip, income, budget and place of origin.

Los poderes públicos han desempeñado un papel clave en la competitividad turística, al recaer sobre este agente la obligación de proporcionar distintas infraestructuras y garantizar distintos servicios tanto al turista como al propio destino turístico. Las administraciones públicas de los territorios en los que el turismo tiene un peso importante para la economía española han puesto de manifiesto determinados problemas de financiación. Ante lo cual, la implantación de instrumentos fiscales específicos que graven dicha actividad y que recaigan sobre los agentes participantes en el sector, pueden contribuir a obtener la financiación necesaria para abordar distintas políticas públicas.

Public authorities have played a key role in tourism competitiveness, as this agent is obliged to provide certain infrastructure and services. This has led to incurring certain additional costs that may be financed by contributions from the implementation of fiscal instruments. The objective of the present work is to identify the tourist taxes implemented in the 50 main world tourist destinations. To do this, different official, national and international sources have been consulted. Tourist taxes have been identified in 49 of the 50 main tourist destinations; and have been configured, therefore, as an effective instrument for obtaining the necessary financing.