search.noResults

search.searching

dataCollection.invalidEmail
note.createNoteMessage

search.noResults

search.searching

orderForm.title

orderForm.productCode
orderForm.description
orderForm.quantity
orderForm.itemPrice
orderForm.price
orderForm.totalPrice
orderForm.deliveryDetails.billingAddress
orderForm.deliveryDetails.deliveryAddress
orderForm.noItems
BUSINESS NEWS maintain destinations, says Jeremy Sampson, chief executive of the Travel Foundation ost – it’s time visitors paid it’ New taxes or other


means are needed to safeguard the future of the world’s most-treasured places


infrastructure tax. Te Balearic Islands has implemented a tourism tax, which has raised €200 million in less than three years and is used to fund sustainability projects – including a €40 million investment in charging points to encourage car hire firms to offer electric vehicles; €6.8 million to expand Majorca’s Llevant Nature Reserve; and €500,000 on beach cleaning.


Safeguard the future


7%, and Belgium and the Netherlands 6% – compared with 20% in the UK and 25% in Denmark. At the same time, 19 of 28 EU countries have some form of tourist tax. Te UK does not.


Stop misallocating resources


Te policy implications of tourism tax allocation are vast, but the allocation of taxes has barely been researched. No mater how much tourism


contributes to national and local treasuries, if the costs associated with each visitor are not understood, resources will be misallocated. Currently, there is a high


allocation of taxes to support visitor- growth targets. While destination


travelweekly.co.uk


facilities deteriorate under the weight of overtourism, marketing and airport expansion continues apace using substantial tax revenues generated by tourism visitors. It isn’t realistic for municipalities


to hope for a reallocation of finances to help beter manage tourism at a local level, particularly in the absence of data to show the full extent of the costs involved – and the investment required – to maintain destination assets and upgrade infrastructure. It is more realistic to introduce


a new tourism tax and ringfence it for that purpose. Countries such as Iceland and New Zealand already charge an


It seems only fair that tourism should pay its way and cover all its costs. It’s encouraging that some destinations are seeking to do this. Whether these funds come from new taxes or by other means – and all options should be considered – they are needed to safeguard the future of the world’s most-treasured places. However, if they come without


a necessary understanding of the invisible burden, and only once overtourism has taken hold, then it could be too litle, too late. Destinations need to build their


capacity to introduce systems that account for the costs, not just the


benefits, of tourism. Q Jeremy Sampson took over fom Salli Felton as Travel Foundation chief executive in September


TOURISM TAX UK MOOTS


UK industry leaders are working on proposals that could see the sector back demands for local tourism taxes in return for a cut in VAT on hotels when Britain leaves the EU. However, they want VAT and


local taxes on tourists to apply to all accommodation providers including Airbnb-type rentals. T


ravel Weekly


reported in June that umbrella industry group the Tourism Alliance is drafting proposals for local authorities to tax visitors in return for a reduction in the 20% VAT rate on accommodation to a level in line with other leading destinations. Tourism Alliance director Kurt ravel Weekly: “If


Janson told T


the government reduced VAT on accommodation to 10% then added a 5% tourist tax, customers and destinations would both win.” The alliance proposes the


Treasury make up the lost revenue by reducing the VAT threshold, which excludes accommodation providers earning less than £86,000 a year and means most Airbnb-style landlords do not pay. Janson said: “The government


could lower the threshold to £5,000 and everyone would pay.” MPs called in May for a cut


in the tax ‘burden’ on UK tourism “to mitigate industry opposition to a tourist tax”. A report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Hospitality noted “increasing enthusiasm” among local councils for levying taxes on tourists as they face a funding gap of £8 billion by 2025.


31 OCTOBER 2019


71


PICTURES: Shutterstock; Bart van der Putten


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80