Norway is quietly introducing a new tool for cities to control tourism

STR Unpacked · Mar 11, 2026 · 1m · transcript

Norway is quietly introducing a new tool for cities to control tourism and it includes short-term rentals.

The government has approved legislation allowing municipalities to introduce a tourist tax of up to 3% on overnight stays, including hotels and STRs.

But the important detail for operators:

This isn’t a national tax. Cities decide whether to apply it.

That means high-pressure destinations like fjord towns and Arctic tourism hotspots could move first.

Norway already has relatively strict STR rules, including around a 90-night cap for entire-home rentals in many apartment buildings…