O/T Jeremy corbyn

[Grist_To_The_Mill]

How come we don’t have a tourist tax in the UK when in certain parts of Spain they do?

[KerrAvon]

How come we don’t have a tourist tax in the UK when in certain parts of Spain they do?

Because taxation is generally a matter for national governments as opposed to the EU and we choose not to have a tourist tax?

[Grist_To_The_Mill]

Because taxation is generally a matter for national governments as opposed to the EU and we choose not to have a tourist tax?

That was my question, why don’t we do it?

I see Venice is considering doing the same.

[KerrAvon]

That was my question, why don’t we do it?

I see Venice is considering doing the same.

Because we don't wish to discourage tourism? Who knows. Write to Philip Hammond if it's troubling you.

[Grist_To_The_Mill]

Because we don't wish to discourage tourism? Who knows. Write to Philip Hammond if it's troubling you.

Nah, it’s easier to ask here, as I know that you or John2 (hard to tell the difference, if there is a difference) will cut and paste some wisdom from Wikipedia that answers the question.

[John2]

That was my question, why don’t we do it?

I see Venice is considering doing the same.

Because we are a sovereign nation with our own tax laws too.

I've done an awful lot of travelling in the last few years, there are many hidden (or sometimes transparent) costs depending on where you go. These costs do have a big impact on how desirable a place is to visit.

London has been the most visited city in the world in recent years (with Paris up there and Bangkok current reigning #1).

This is in part because London has great free museums and a lot of free iconic landmarks to visit, palaces etc. We also make it very cheap and easy for people to visit, for example we do not ask Americans to pay any costs (they make us pay $14 every 2 years just for permission to fly there).

Our strategy has contributed to the huge number of wealthy tourists from overseas that have contributed huge sums to our economy. In fact tourism is 10% of our GDP and generates 3.8m jobs. Changing our strategy introduces risks.

There may be some ways to extract more money from visitors, but I guess we've decided the costs aren't worth it. We have a strong reputation of being "open for business", it may make us more than it costs to start sneakily getting overseas visitors to hand over £20 when they arrive at the airport for something, but subtle things like that can slowly erode a long built reputation.

When I've spent times in various European cities over the last couple of months, I've been disappointed how frequently museums and the like extract as much money from tourists as possible. We have some of the finest in the world, I proudly recommend the UK as a place to visit for reasons like these.

I loved visiting India, but I'm a LOT less likely to spontaneously return because it's well over £100 and a load of hassle to apply for a visa if I see cheap flights that appeal to me.

I was in Venice last month, beautiful city, but a lot of people believe Venice attracts 'too many' tourists. The number of visitors for such a tiny area is huge compared to other cities. Perhaps a tax is being considered to temper demand, and also raise revenues. Taxes often address the specific needs and conditions of the locality they are collected in.

[John2]

How come we don’t have a tourist tax in the UK when in certain parts of Spain they do?

haha, this is your level of understanding of how Europe operates as it does any why... evidently none existent!

Spain is a sovereign nation responsible for its own taxation policies.

[Grist_To_The_Mill]

haha, this is your level of understanding of how Europe operates as it does any why... evidently none existent!

Spain is a sovereign nation responsible for its own taxation policies.

I’ve replied above.