The €3 tourist fee: what Mauritius owners actually have to do
Since October 2025, Mauritius charges a Tourist Fee on stays in registered tourist accommodation. It is simple in principle and easy to get wrong in practice, so here is the whole thing in plain words.
The rule
- €3 per tourist, per night, for guests aged 12 and above.
- It applies to stays in registered tourist accommodation, which includes licensed short-term rentals.
- Exemptions exist, notably for younger children, so the guest count that matters is not always the booking headcount.
- The declaration and payment go through the MRA, and it is the operator of the accommodation who is responsible for them.
What the platforms do and do not do
Airbnb and Booking.com do not remit this fee to the MRA for you. Depending on how a listing is configured, the fee can be built into the nightly price or shown to the guest separately, but either way the money ends up with the owner, and the obligation to declare and pay stays with the owner. Assuming the platform handled it is the most common mistake we hear.
What to keep on file
The fee is calculated on guest-nights, so the records that matter are: who stayed, how many were 12 or older, and for how many nights. Booking confirmations cover most of it, but exemptions and mid-stay changes are worth noting as they happen rather than reconstructing at declaration time. If the MRA ever asks, that file is the answer.
One honest caution
Utility companies now report large customers to the MRA, and short-term rental activity is increasingly visible to the authorities. The direction of travel in Mauritius is clear: formal, registered, declared. Owners who are already clean have nothing to do but keep their records. If your setup is somewhere in between, tidying it up now is far cheaper than being found later.
Talk to us about running it properly →
This note is general information, not tax or legal advice. For your specific situation, speak to your accountant, or ask us and we will point you to the right person.