Spain's tourism minister brands Balearics eco-tax 'crazy'

SPAIN’S tourism minister has branded an #eco-tax to be introduced by the #BalearicIslands as ‘crazy’ and likened it to Germany placing a tax on its car-making industry. 

Jose Manuel Soria, minister of industry, energy and tourism, criticized the €1/€2-a-night tax, due to be levied on each visitor to the Balearic Islands from next year. 

‘I think it doesn’t make sense, it’s crazy. It would be the same thing if Germany, which has a strong automobile industry, decided to allow a special tax on the manufacturing of cars.

‘The tourism sector in Spain has been a story of success for the past 25 years, because we have tourism professionals and companies that have done a really good job, but that doesn’t mean we have a guarantee that it will be like that in the future. Tourism is becoming one of the great drivers of economic recovery in Spain, so it’s wrong thinking to introduce more tax on that.’

Speaking at the World Travel Market in London, he added that British visitor numbers had sprung back up to approach pre-economic crisis levels, with the UK making up nearly a quarter of all visitors to Spain and her islands.

There were 15 million British visitors to Spain in 2014, up 4.7% compared with the previous year, which not only accounted for 23% of overall visitors to the Mediterranean destination but also for a €12.7 billion contribution to the economy.

That figure is set to rise even further this year with a total of 15.5 million UK visitors predicted.

Mr Soria attributed that to growing consumer confidence in the UK, a strong pound-to-euro exchange rate, an increase in airlift with 45 new routes from the UK to Spain introduced this year, and an improved passenger load factor of more than 90%.

‘British tourism has played a very key role in our tourism,’ he said. ‘It's the first and most important market for our country.’

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Balearics eco-tax faces challenge

UK TOURISM and travel bodies say they will fight plans to introduce an #eco-tax on visitors to Spain’s #BalearicIslands. Tourists staying at five-star hotels on the islands or on cruise ships moored in ports will be charged €2 (£1.44) a day in high season under new proposals.

A reduced levy would also apply to holidaymakers staying in hostels, campsites, holiday homes, and lower-grade hotels.

The proposal includes halving the tax in low season, and children under 14 would be exempt.

Cruise association CLIA UK & Ireland plans to meet with Balearic government officials to warn that some cruise lines could alter their itineraries and reduce their visits to the islands if the tax is introduced. A spokeswoman said: ‘This could have a negative impact on cruising’s economic contribution in this region.’

The Association of British Travel Agents will also use its influence to try to reverse the decision. Nikki White, head of destination and sustainability, said: ‘We will be writing this week to the Balearic government urging them to rethink their decision. We will also be seeking clarification of the amounts that will be charged, the mechanisms for collection, and the rationale behind the tax. Fifteen years ago a similar tax was introduced which had the unintended consequence of drastically reducing visitor numbers to the islands.”

Mr Biel Barcelo, the islands’ vice-president and tourism minister, said the revenues would help ‘maintain and improve the quality of tourism services in the islands’.

The Balearic government is expected to make a decision about the proposed tax in the second quarter of 2016.

Go Holiday editor David Kernek comments: £1.44 (at current exchange rates) a day for an eco-tax or, let’s call it what it really is, a tourism tax. It isn’t far off what a tourist would tip a waiter in an average café or bar, and it’s certainly less than what holidaymakers with more money than sense spend when buying tacky souvenirs in gift shops and markets. Is it really asking too much of tourists? Is it really going to make sun-starved northern Europeans think twice about choosing Majorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera for a holiday? I don’t think so.

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Balearics tax will 'drive off tourists'

TOURISTS will be ‘driven away’ from the #BalearicIslands if the destination’s government reintroduces a tax on visitors, says Thomas Cook chief executive Peter Fankhauser.

The proposed #eco-tax, which would cost €1-€2 per person per night from next year, is intended to help preserve the islands’ environment. If introduced, it could add £80 to the cost of a two-week holiday for a family of four.

The islands, which attract almost 3.5 million visitors from the UK each year, scrapped a similar tax in 2003 just one year after it was introduced, because it was deterring holidaymakers.

But last week the islands’ vice-president and tourism minister, Biel Barceló, told a parliamentary hearing that it would apply a tourist tax in 2016 ‘with or without the help of the state’ because it is ‘absolutely necessary’.

Mr Fankhauser said in a statement that the tax could lead to families, in particular, turning to cheaper destinations.

A spokesman for the Association of British Travel Agents said that should the association receive official confirmation of the levy, it would write to the Balearics government ‘reminding it that the tax would have only the unintended consequence of driving tourists away from the islands’.

The proposed tax is under discussion and a limit on the number of nights charged is being considered. There would be an exemption for young children and it is ‘very likely’ that it would be reduced out of season.

A spokesman for the Balearics government said: ‘The aim is to preserve this paradise, which so many Britons visit year after year.’

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