Tourist tax

The battle lines are already being drawn up as local hoteliers look to block plans by the Balearic government to introduce the controversial tourist tax. I have made my thoughts on this levy very clear in this space but I do believe that local hoteliers should sit down with the government before they announce their opposition and go on the offence. Properly administered and with the help of the industry, the tourist tax could just work but the government obviously needs the support of the hoteliers. Providing that the one euro daily charge is properly spent on improving island resorts, I can't see any reason why tourists would object too strongly to the surcharge. But obviously it is a gamble. I would call on all sides to work together. The last thing we want at the moment is a split between the Balearic government and the tourist industry. it would be a very dangerous state of affairs which could hit the Balearics position as a principal holiday destination. When the public administration and private sector work together things work; when they are divided things can go very wrong indeed.