Tourist ‘tax’ for Malta hotel guests

GUESTS at hotels in Malta and Gozo will have to pay what is described as an ‘environmental contribution’ of 50c (£0.36) per head per day up to a maximum of €5 (£3.66) from next April. 

Visitors under 18, and language students, will be exempt.

The revenue generated by the levy – a total of €6 million (£4.39 million) – will be supplemented by the National Development Fund and the money will be used by a foundation which will be set up with the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association for the maintenance of tourist zones.

#Malta and #Gozo residents will also have to pay the levy when staying at a hotel.

Meanwhile, tourism police will undergo a course at the Institute of Tourism Studies aimed at helping foreign visitors during their stay in a more effective manner. Additional police officers will be assigned duties in tourist areas.

Go Holiday editor David Kernek comments: It’s impossible to argue against charges like this, especially as people who’ve paid out for a holiday in Malta will hardly have trouble finding an extra 36p a day. What’s profoundly annoying, though, is the refusal of politicians and bureaucrats to call a spade a spade: this ‘environment contribution’ is in plain Anglo-Saxon a tourist tax.

Go Holiday news : www.govillasandcottages.co.uk

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Picture Credit: Stjulians-hilton-yachts-cannon by Thyes - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons