The £10 you pay when entering Turkey, and increasingly other popular countries, is basically what they call a tourist tax. Many countries are starting to charge this and even some local councils in the UK are considering it.
Basically, this £10 fee is supposed to go to the host community to go some way towards refunding the cost of tourism. Many visitors complain about this additional fee as they feel they're already bringing money into the local economy. While this point is true in theory, it is very short sighted of people to believe that host communities have no right to charge this tax.
The money spent by tourists often goes to large multinational companies. Here are some examples;
- Thomson holidays may get money for the flight
- Barcelo may get money for accommodation
- McDonalds may get money for some of the meals people eat
- Nestle get money from ice lollies, etc. Etc.
It would however, be equally short sighted to say that no money filters through to the local economy because, of course, it does. There are many cafes, bars, shops and hotels owned and ran by local people and these counties don't deny that tourism is beneficial.
What they are saying, is that tourism costs their local government a lot of money in upkeep for example; extra bin collections, litter pickers, sand sweepers, road repairs and waste management. In the past these services and repairs were paid for from the local tax payments but since tourism adds so much to this cost it was suggested they should help to pay.
All in all this is a very minimal payment per holiday but goes a long way to helping these resorts and to help keep them worth visiting. Some package holidays include this tax in their price and so not everyone will be required to pay this themselves.
Basically, this £10 fee is supposed to go to the host community to go some way towards refunding the cost of tourism. Many visitors complain about this additional fee as they feel they're already bringing money into the local economy. While this point is true in theory, it is very short sighted of people to believe that host communities have no right to charge this tax.
The money spent by tourists often goes to large multinational companies. Here are some examples;
- Thomson holidays may get money for the flight
- Barcelo may get money for accommodation
- McDonalds may get money for some of the meals people eat
- Nestle get money from ice lollies, etc. Etc.
It would however, be equally short sighted to say that no money filters through to the local economy because, of course, it does. There are many cafes, bars, shops and hotels owned and ran by local people and these counties don't deny that tourism is beneficial.
What they are saying, is that tourism costs their local government a lot of money in upkeep for example; extra bin collections, litter pickers, sand sweepers, road repairs and waste management. In the past these services and repairs were paid for from the local tax payments but since tourism adds so much to this cost it was suggested they should help to pay.
All in all this is a very minimal payment per holiday but goes a long way to helping these resorts and to help keep them worth visiting. Some package holidays include this tax in their price and so not everyone will be required to pay this themselves.
