Unilateral, discriminatory taxes on long haul destinations
At the invitation of the Minister of Tourism of the Republic of South Africa, Mr Marthinus van Schalkwyk, tourism ministers and senior officials from long-haul destinations convened in Berlin in the margins of International Tourism Exchange Berlin (ITB) 2011 to discuss the unilateral, discriminatory taxes imposed on travel to long haul destinations by some European countries.
Having met in Berlin to discuss streamlining and growing our respective tourism industries; and noting that tourism is a major driver of job creation, poverty eradication, socio-economic development and people-to-people contact in our respective countries; and understanding that the sector is particularly important as a source of export revenue, contributing 30% of the world’s services exports, amounting to US$1 trillion a year and 45% of the total services exports in developing countries, rendering it an important driver of growth in the global economy and believing that the low-carbon development of sustainable eco-tourism destinations and sustainable modes of transport are critically important; and noting the increase in unilateral and discriminatory taxes imposed on international travel in a number of European countries; and that aviation will in addition also be included under the EU’s emissions trading system from 2012; and noting our respective commitments under International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO); and now therefore we express concern that:
- these unilateral taxes and the basis for its calculation are inherently discriminatory favouring short flights over long haul travel and more specifically, that some taxes discriminate against long-haul destinations through so-called ‘distance banding’ based on distances to capital cities
- the order of magnitude of these taxes on long-haul destinations is excessive
- the International Air Transport Association estimates that flight costs on these routes could increase by three to five percent, which will have a negative impact on passenger numbers, tourist volumes and downstream tourist receipts in long-haul destinations and we stress that:
- there is no practical alternative to air travel when it comes to long-haul destinations, whereas travellers in Europe may choose to avoid the burden of extra taxes by resorting to rail, road or ferry modes of transport
- as likeminded long haul destinations, we are concerned about the longer-term negative impacts that these taxes will have on our competitiveness
- there is a need to avoid duplicative measures that could undermine progress towards a multilateral approach.
We therefore call on those countries involved to reconsider these excessive, discriminatory taxes that adversely affect longhaul destinations, including many developing economies.
Recognising the ongoing efforts by various countries and regions, we have extended an invitation to other countries affected by these unilateral, discriminatory taxes to become part of the process.
