New tourist fees being introduced across Europe
For many tourists, additional taxes on vacation already exist. At least, that's how they perceive the visa fee that exists in many countries. And it doesn't matter whether the visa is issued at an embassy or at the country's border – in fact, it's a fee for the right to enter the country.
Tourists also usually pay to visit attractions: state museums are free only in a few countries (e.g., Sweden). The funds museums receive from tourists go towards maintaining exhibitions, reconstruction, restoration of cultural monuments – in short, all the things European authorities plan to spend the new tax on.
This, however, does not stop officials: they want foreigners to support not only the economy as a whole (spending money abroad contributes to capital inflow and job creation in the tourist city) but also local budgets. In some cities, such taxes are already levied (especially popular in the USA), but 2010 saw nearly a record number of initiatives for tourist fees. Interestingly, the projects are mostly devised by cities, not countries: in just the last few months, Lisbon, Rome, Venice, Barcelona, and St. Petersburg have announced their desire to introduce tourist taxes. At the national level, the tax was introduced only in Germany.
The German tax is generally very different from what European cities have devised: it is more appropriate to call it a "transit" tax rather than a tourist tax. From January 1, 2011, airlines will have to pay an additional fee for each passenger departing from German airports, ranging from 8 to 45 euros. The least will be paid for those flying up to 2,500 kilometers, 25 euros for those flying 2,500-6,000 kilometers, and 45 euros for all others.
Given that many German airports are used by tourists as transport hubs, the German budget will receive a considerable revenue. Frankfurt Airport alone serves over 50 million passengers a year. It became the third largest airport in Europe largely thanks to tourists. For example, the top ten busiest routes from Frankfurt in 2009 included Chicago, New York, London, Paris, and Munich.
However, it seems Germany will still miss out on some of the tax revenue. The fact is that the new tax is extremely disadvantageous for low-cost airlines, as it can in some cases increase the cost of a flight for passengers by one and a half to two times. Therefore, European low-cost carriers have already started looking for opportunities to "relocate" from Germany.
Ryanair was the first to do this. The Irish carrier announced that from mid-2011 it would have to cut a number of routes from Germany. For example, from Frankfurt, the number of routes will be reduced by nine, and the number of weekly flights by 150. Ryanair will also reduce its presence in other German cities, including Bremen, Düsseldorf, and Berlin.
The Irish warned Germany that passenger traffic on Ryanair routes would decrease by three million people per year. Moreover, the authorities' initiative would leave three thousand people unemployed.
Other tax initiatives belong to individual cities. In Barcelona, according to the local mayor, the new tax would bring an additional 20 million euros per year to the treasury, and in Lisbon, they believe they could collect an extra 13 million euros from tourists. The fee is planned to be collected at hotels and simply included in the accommodation cost. In Lisbon, they even devised a special scale: if the bill is approved, tourists will have to pay 1.9 euros per night for a hotel or inn, and 20 euro cents per night for a hostel. Another euro would have to be paid when crossing the Portuguese border.
But Italy has gone furthest with "hotel" taxes. In Rome, for example, an additional fee has already been approved for all tourists staying in hotels. For accommodation in hotels up to three stars, you will have to pay two euros per night, in better hotels – three euros. Meanwhile, hostel guests will be exempt from the tax.
The Rome fee sparked (as do most official initiatives in Italy) a heated debate. It was opposed by, firstly, hoteliers, and secondly, small business representatives. The latter pointed out that tourists would have less money for shopping, which would immediately affect their profits, but officials considered that 2-3 euros would not make much difference.
The same was thought in other Italian tourist centers – Venice and Florence. Given that the introduction of an additional 1-euro tax in these cities was supported by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, the matter is almost settled. On December 22, it became known that Venice Mayor Giorgio Orsoni agreed to the introduction of the tax, but when the collection scheme will be developed is still unknown.
In the "Northern Venice," as St. Petersburg is often called in tourist guides, they decided not to lag behind Europe. St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matvienko proposed in December 2009 to introduce a tourist tax of two euros, but the federal authorities did not support the project at that time. A year later, St. Petersburg's demands halved: now Matvienko wants to introduce a tax of one euro. Many Russians would certainly dispute her words "1 euro is not money," but for foreign tourists, the amount is indeed negligible.
To introduce the new tax, St. Petersburg residents will have to push the federal authorities, who must agree to changes in the Tax Code. Back in 2009, St. Petersburg said that the tourist tax should be introduced only in one city, but if the amendments are adopted, other regions will follow St. Petersburg's lead: surely Moscow, Veliky Novgorod, Pskov, and other cities will want to introduce their own fee.
If we consider the introduction of such a fee across the country as a whole, it will inevitably face at least one difficulty. In Europe, tourist centers are already established, and it would be difficult to "drive out" tourists from Venice or Barcelona even with the introduction of taxes, but in Russia, tourists still need to be attracted and attracted. In this sense, introducing a fee is not the best idea.
Alexander POLIVANOV.
