US$25 tourist travel tax pushed

Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte is calling for the imposition of a US$25 tourist travel tax to help generate funds for the improvement of tourist welfare services in the country.

Villafuerte sought the collection of US$25 from tourists traveling to the Philippines and staying in the country for less than two months.

"Currently, our government imposes a travel tax on Filipinos traveling abroad without a similar imposition to foreigners traveling to the Philippines even while neighboring economies tax foreigners flying into their countries," he said in filing House Bill 7434 or the proposed Tourist Welfare Tax Act of 2018.

"The fixed rate of US $25 is competitive with the current travel taxes that other Asian countries have set. This is mainly based on the average rates of entry and exit taxes imposed by Asian countries, such as Thailand,

Indonesia, Brunei, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Hong Kong and China," Villafuerte said.

He noted that the collection of entry and exit taxes has been imposed by other countries on visiting foreign nationals in order to boost funding for tourism.

House Bill 7434 provides that the proposed collected fee will be used to improve the tourist welfare services such as existing and ensuing tourist information and assistance desks, tourism police training and development programs, and special projects for tourists with disabilities and special needs.