Taxing time for island visitors?

Island resorts around Europe could be ready to introduce tourist taxes in line with those introduced in the Balearic Islands last year.

As reported by News From Abroad, the levy, which averages around one euro per day per visitor, was introduced a year ago and raised in the region of £12 million for the islands in the first six months. The cash is already being used on scores of projects designed to make the islands a better destination for tourists.

Now Dr Raoul Bianchi, a tourism expert at London Metropolitan University, says he believes other islands are likely to go down the same route. He told The Observer: “Other regions have looked at the Majorca experiment and seen that it hasn’t hurt tourism, and is not too costly to implement.”

Bianchi believes that several destinations including the Canaries, Malta and some Greek islands are looking at introducing a similar levy. He believes the Canaries may be first: “If the Socialist Party increases its share of the vote in the 25 May elections, I think a similar form of tax is likely to be introduced there.”