Catalan tourist tax has little impact on visitor numbers

The tourist tax levied on visitors to Catalonia has just celebrated its first anniversary, with no complaints from tourists. Since November 1st 2012 the Generalitat has levied a tax of between €0.45 and €2.25 per visitor for each night they stay in a hotel, to a maximum of seven nights.

The tax has had no measurable effect on tourism in Girona province thanks to the popularity of the Costa Brava amount overseas visitors, although some areas that rely on domestic tourism have complained about it.

The money is supposedly being invested in promoting Catalonia as a tourist destination and therefore benefits the tourist sector directly and adds so little to a typical room rate that visitors have hardly noticed. However, it could be argued that the tax has been absorbed by hoteliers who dropped average room rates by 5%, as we reported last week.

Source: Emporda.info

Tags: Hotels, socialmedia, Tax, Tourism