France to tax tourists

Taxing the tourist through luxury hotel tax could help to save falling hotels and endangered historic buildings throughout France.

Tourists coming to France do so to enjoy many of the most beautiful and historic buildings the country offers. Should they pay a luxury tax on their hotel stay to help restore those buildings then?

The Culture Minister Christine Albanel is considering it. While nothing is definite just yet, the idea of paying for such costly repairs through a hotel tax is alluring. The tax would amount to two euro tax and would apply to those hotels listed as four star or five star only.

The French buildings needing repair and attention are scattered throughout the country. A recent study of such buildings was done and the ministry found that 41 per cent of these buildings were in serious condition or risk being endangered beyond repair.

In response, the hotel industry was unhappy, though in comparison to the costs of such rooms, which range from €180 to €220 per night, two additional Euros does not seem like much. It would help to generate some €50 million which would be added to the state provided €300 million annually. According to hotel industry representatives, though, it is not about the additional cost as much as it is about tarnishing the tourism industry here in the world's eye.

The tax would hit not locals, but tourists mainly, who are traditionally visiting the city to see many of these buildings anyway.

Much of France's economy is based on tourism. The country is consistently one of the top rated tourism destinations worldwide. Some 75 million people visit France each year. There are over 18,800 hotels in France, about one third would be affected, though it is unclear if additional bed and breakfast or tourists' residence of other styles would be affected by such a tax.

According to estimates by the French government, the cost of repairing and maintaining such buildings throughout the country will amount to 400 million Euros per year, which may be reduced after major reconstruction work is completed on larger sites in poor condition.

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