WTTC: travellers are not a soft target for taxation
Almasalla Travel News – Ashraf El gedawy – Taxation within the travel and tourism industry is rampant all over the world and Governments must stop seeing travellers as a soft target for taxation. That was the message delivered by the WTTC chief to the Airports Council International World Annual General Assembly in Istanbul one week ago.
Globally, Travel & Tourism contributed US$ 6.6 trillion in GDP, or 9% of global GDP, in 2012. But according to David Scowsill, World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) President & CEO, Governments need “to stop viewing passengers and tourists as a revenue source and realise that they are a revenue generator. Taxes must stimulate growth rather than thwart it.”
Speaking to the audience of airport executives, Scowsill said: “taxation within the travel and tourism industry is rampant all over the world – but particularly aviation taxes and airport taxes”. But aviation is not unique in being targeted by Governments as a revenue-generating sector. Scowsill told the audience that “in many countries there are additional hotel taxes, food & beverage taxes and even culture taxes.”
“It is for this reason that WTTC has made taxation a key battleground for the industry, through its “Policies for Growth” agenda. This is a wide-ranging series of initiatives, spearheaded by WTTC Members where the private and public sector work together to ensure that the business environment is conducive to the growth of the industry; planning and investing in the appropriate infrastructure; and creating a tax regime which allows the private sector to be competitive. Our job is far from done on this issue. We will continue to lobby government to reduce the tax burden on our industry.”
David Scowsill also praised the Turkish government’s approach to tourism in the last 10 years which has led to Travel & Tourism accounting for almost 11% of Turkey’s total economy. “Turkey should be congratulated for its forward-looking approach to Travel & Tourism. It has recognised the huge economic and social contribution of our industry as a driver of economic growth and job creation. Today, over 2 million people owe their jobs to Travel & Tourism.”
