ON MY MIND
WHEN the Normans began conquering areas of South Wales and settling in them, and in the 13th century when Edward I invaded with a huge English army with heavily armed cavalry, one simple thing would have halted their antics – a tourism tax. And English penetration in Scotland and Ireland might have been diminished had the local hostelries been able to whack them with an overnight stay charge. Then a surcharge for stabling the horses and a breakfast of crushed oat-bread soaked in buttermilk might have hastened their exit.
I admit that there is nothing more irritating than checking out from a European hotel after a tasty tostada con tomate and a naughty chocolate con churros only to be presented with an additional charge for being a tourist. Would we Brits be so sneaky? Well, the Welsh Government last week confirmed a consultation about a proposed tourist tax aimed at anyone staying in a hotel, self-catering apartment or campsite overnight.
Two years ago there were 10,698,000 overnight domestic GB trips to Wales. Rebecca Evans, Minister for Finance and Local Government, said that “visitor levies are … an opportunity for visitors to make an investment in local infrastructure and services, which in turn make tourism a success”.
Of course, hoteliers will throw their saucepans out of the kitchen and claim harm to the tourist industry, but there is no evidence of this internationally. It is actually a fair way to deal with the extra burden which tourists place on local amenities and provide help in maintaining toilets, parks, beaches etc. At the moment you and I pay for these, and a tourist levy would raise revenue for local authorities to better manage services in a sustainable way.
However, when amenities are poor, when people have to wade through dog poo, when you can’t get a coffee after 4pm, when there is nowhere to go out of the rain, when there is little or no local strategic planning or when local councils are less than proactive, there may be a case for paying the tourist a fee for coming in the first place.