It's time to reconsider a SW tourist tax

HOLIDAYS can be taxing - and not just the airport delays, the eyewatering cost of a bottle of water in the departure lounge, or the risk that a brochure image of a beautiful hotel turns out, on arrival, to be a half-built ruin.

- PHILIP BOWERN

Tourist taxes are now a regular part of the cost of a foreign holiday and, as a way to help a country or a region offset the impact of a huge summertime population spike, they look to me like a good idea.

I've just come back from a delightful two-week holiday in Greece. The plane left on time, the villa was beautiful, just as advertised - even the drinks at the airport were properly priced.

The only taxing part of my break in the sun was an actual tax and I was happy to pay, even though it added around 180 euros to the cost of the holiday.

In Greece the tourist tax has been substantially increased in recent months and now has a quite specific name and purpose. It is called the Climate Resilience Fee - shortened to the Climate Tax - and is designed to offset the impact of climate change, including wildfires and other climate-related problems.

The effectiveness of a tax designed to mitigate climate change which relies on attracting as many visitors as possible to pay the charge must be questionable.

But leaving that aside, using the money raised to help cover the cost of fighting wildfires, funding climate adaptation and investing in other sustainable practices must be a good thing.