Levies won’t break tourist trade
New Zealand would be wise to follow the lead of European city tourist taxes.
Little things can grate when you’re on holiday. So many added extras that nibble away at your bank balance – on your fifth trip to the ATM in a week, you’re bound to be thinking: ‘‘Hang on, where did all my money go?’’. Then you do some sums, find some train tickets and museum stubs at the bottom of your bags and realise nearly every penny spent has enhanced your trip away.
There are always extra or unplanned charges that send my whinge o’meter ringing (including, but not limited to, the ridiculous resort fee common in the United States; paying an ‘‘electricity’’ charge; extra taxi levies on weekends; unnecessary insurance on car rentals; and so on.)
But a tourist tax is not one of them. A few euros a night doesn’t faze me, particularly if it is further invested into a city’s infrastructure and public spaces that tourists overwhelmingly benefit from. Not only does it not faze me but – like the overwhelming majority of travellers – it has zero impact on my decision to visit a destination or not. Why would it? Climate, reputation, events, beaches, natural wonder, history, architecture, adventure, friends, family – these are the levers that get people crossing oceans and spending the tourist dollar.
Research was published in June from Istanbul University on tourists’ willingness to pay a tourist tax and their expectations for where it would go.
The study not only found a majority of tourists who had booked accommodation would be willing to pay an added fee, but the average acceptable rate of the per-night charge was 4.80 euros ($7.94) a day. Even at that level it would have a shrug-worthy impact on your tourist budget.
However – and this is where the policy sinks or swims – it’s critical travellers see and feel the impacts of parting with the levy. Topping the list of requirements from this research group was enhanced safety and infrastructure in tourist hotspots, as well as transport, wi-fi(!), and restoration and upkeep of historical relics and buildings. Details regarding rates, exceptions and more would