'Bed-taxes.' An outdated method of funding tourism impacted infrastructure, and an alternative solution

Abstract

Increasing numbers of visitors to global destinations have seen some countries, states, and regions introduce a variety of tourism-taxes designed to raise funds to be used to promote the destination or assist with developing and maintaining the infrastructure needed to sustain tourism in the destination. An increasingly popular tourism-tax is the 'bed-tax.' While many hoteliers support contributing to promotion and infrastructure costs, hoteliers also argue that they are only one recipient of the tourist spend; therefore, tourism taxation should be spread across the entire tourism industry. This conceptual paper reports the history and original rationale of 'bed taxes,' the impact bed-taxes have on hotels and presents a new, sustainable, and fit-for-purpose tourism promotion and infrastructural tourism tax model.