Travemünde, a district of the municipality Hansestadt Lübeck, levies a visitor tax (Kurabgabe) on non-resident overnight guests. The adult rate is €2.00 per person per night from 1 January–14 May and 15 September–31 December, and €3.50 per person per night during the high season from 15 May–14 September. The arrival day is not charged; the arrival and departure days count as one day. A €98 annual flat rate (28 high-season days) may be approved on application for eligible cases. The Kurabgabe includes the beach-use charge.
Exemptions include children and young people under 18 (proof of age required); specified relatives staying free in the household of a Lübeck resident if they do not use the spa facilities; students at Lübeck universities/technical colleges with a valid student ID; participants in sports events recognized by the Travemünde spa operator during active participation; persons with a degree of disability of 100 and a necessary companion; persons whose ordinary residence is in Hansestadt Lübeck; holders of an Ostseecard from another participating resort; persons staying for employment or commercial vocational training if they do not use the spa facilities during or outside that purpose; and bedridden patients or injured persons unable to use the facilities with a medical certificate. Business travellers are therefore exempt only under the stated non-use condition, not automatically in every case.
For short-term accommodation in the Travemünde charge area, every host (including a hotel, holiday-apartment owner, or person providing accommodation to relatives or third parties) must register guests with the Kurbetrieb Travemünde within three days, normally via the digital onlinemeldeschein ostseecard. The registration must include guest identity and stay data plus the host's name/address, Vermieternummer and issued Meldescheinnummer. The host collects and remits the Kurabgabe and is liable for it; the host must also issue the Ostseecard. No separate Airbnb-style registration number was identified in the cited municipal materials. Separately, Lübeck's municipal housing-protection ordinance treats using free-financed housing as holiday accommodation for more than 12 weeks (84 days) per calendar year as Zweckentfremdung; predominantly converting housing to another use requires Hansestadt Lübeck approval. The cited municipal document is the ordinance text adopted by the Bürgerschaft on 27 March 2025.