A comprehensive survey has provided valuable evidence that a substantial proportion of holidaymakers from two of the Canaries’ key markets would be willing to pay a small tax in order to visit the Islands.
The poll, conducted among foreign and domestic tourists by the Canarian Institute for Statistics (ISTAC), has found that two thirds of Germans and just under half of Britons would not be put off holidaying here if the tax, revenue from which would be spent on environmental protection and improvements, were introduced. A very high number of those interviewed expressed a willingness to pay between 1-3 euros per night of their stay, if the charge was for a good cause.
The findings will rekindle the on-off debate on the wisdom of a tax per overnight stay. The issue has reared its head in the Canaries on several occasions in recent years but fears that the levy could trigger a slump in tourism have acted as a brake on initiatives, with the authorities watching carefully developments in other parts of Spain where a similar tax has been introduced.
Among the findings which will have been noted carefully by the tourism authorities here, 25% of tourists from the UK (5 percentage points more than for German holidaymakers) said “they would rule out holidaying in a destination” that levied a room tax per night, even if for environmental purposes, with the figure rising to just over 30% among visitors from East Midlands but falling to 21% among those from Scotland and Wales.
