ABOUT 15 years ago my wife and I holidayed in Venice and Verona, and for each night we were there we paid a city tax. They were small amounts but cumulatively, because of the volume of tourists these places receive, they amounted to significant sums which went to maintaining the local infrastructure. The taxes certainly didn’t put us off returning to Italy many more times.
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Italy is not an outlier as many other cities and countries have these taxes, including France, New Zealand, Barcelona and Greece. In Scotland there is much discussion about the volume of tourists some places receive, with Skye being a notable example, where much infrastructure is being eroded.
So I cannot agree with Jim Taylor (Letters, Jun 29) who rails against a tourist tax or any of the reasons he gives for not introducing one. The taxes have not deterred visitors to Czech Republic, Spain or the USA, so why would they put people off visiting Edinburgh or the Highlands? Scotland should embrace a tourist tax without delay, with local authorities levying the taxes to spend on repairs and improvements.
Richard Walthew
Duns
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