Scrap daft tourist tax to save jobs
Saturday June 13 2009
Passenger traffic for May shows one million fewer passengers through Irish airports in the first five months of the year as Ireland's tourism decline increased following the introduction of the Government's idiotic €10 travel tax on April 1.
If this traffic decline continues, as we expect it will, for the remainder of the year this €10 tourist tax will cause the loss of 2,000 jobs at Irish airports and a loss of more than €1.5bn in visitor spending.
The VAT receipts sacrificed as a result of this tourism collapse will top €300m annually -- more than double the €125m raised by this self-defeating tax.
The Belgian and Dutch governments have now scrapped similar tourist taxes, while the Greek and Spanish governments are reducing airport fees to zero.
Therefore, isn't it time that the Government scraps this tourist tax and makes Ireland a competitive visitor destination once more?
The Government must welcome tourists, not tax them.
Stephen McNamara
RYANAIR, DUBLIN AIRPORT
