Tax Hike Boosts ‘Tobacco Tourism’

A recent tobacco tax hike in the Netherlands has boosted tobacco tourism to Luxembourg, reports The Luxembourg Times.

Dutch smokers have been chartering buses to stock up on cigarettes in the Grand Duchy, where cigarettes are considerable cheaper than in surrounding countries.

For regular smokers, a trip to Luxembourg can be very profitable. Passengers on one such bus said the journey, which takes six hours one way, costs around €40 per person and allowed them to save between €400 and €500 on cigarette purchases in just one trip.

The Netherlands allows smokers to bring up to four cartons of cigarettes from one EU country.

According to De Telegraaf, the tax-fueled increase in demand has led to the bus operator to expand its schedule.

Luxembourg is not the only country attracting tobacco tourists. A few months ago, Le Parisien reported on a similar excursion from the Toulouse region to Andorra, where taxes on tobacco and alcohol are much lower than in France.

.