Tourist Tax

The big hotels chains appear prepared to pay the controversial tourist tax for this summer in a move which has obviously been well received by tourists and residents alike. But it appears that this gesture will only be made by the so-called “Big Boys” because they can absorb the cost. However, smaller hotel chains are faced with the problem of either paying the tax themselves, which would obviously eat into their profits, or passing the cost on to visiting tourists. This is a nightmare situation for some of the smaller hotels because they are rather caught in a Catch-22 situation. It might have been better if the larger hotels had not made the offer in the first place. The good news is that the majority of tourists will not have to pay the tax...the bad news is that some other tourists will. This state of affairs is just adding to the confusion. I have said on numerous occasions in this space that the tourist tax could work providing that the money is spent on improving resorts and the island in general. I am sure that the majority of holidaymakers would not be too fussed if they had to pay one per cent of the total cost of their holiday on the tourist tax providing that the money is well spent. However, I would urge the Balearic government to try and spread the message across Europe about the surcharge to avoid any problems when tourists get to their resorts and are presented with a bill from the local ministry of tourism. There is still time but not that much.