Submissions closed on Friday for Auckland Council's latest Annual Plan. Photo: 123RF
Hoteliers hope to convince Auckland Council not to go ahead with its proposed bed tax, instead calling for a nationwide solution.
Submissions closed on Friday for Auckland Council's latest Annual Plan, which includes a proposal for a 'bed night' visitor levy of 2.5 to 3 percent on short term accommodation.
Hospitality NZ chief executive Steve Armitage said the industry supported a bed tax, but not in the form Auckland Council was proposing.
"We're less supportive of a region-by-region approach, we would prefer to see a one size fits all 'do it once, do it right' approach to introducing such a mechanism," Armitage said.
"If we have individual regions introducing these on an ad-hoc basis it creates confusion and variable rates being applied right across the country. Better to have a consistent approach everyone understands."
Hotel Council Aotearoa represented 57 hotels in Auckland and took a similar position to Hospitality NZ.
"If we're going to have any new form of tourism tax in New Zealand it should be done once and done right," strategic director James Doolan said.
"We've got to give [visitors] a unified and consistent tourism experience because a lot of international travellers travel around the country."
He said proceeding with a local bed tax would be a risky endeavour.
"Tourism is vitally important to New Zealand's economy, almost 300,000 people working in the sector, so we can't run the risk of doing something that doesn't work, or only works for two or three years," Doolan said.
"We need to work hard to build consensus. An Auckland-first approach is a mistake because industry can't be expected to negotiate one-on-one with all the many small councils up and down New Zealand."
"I do hope key councils like Auckland Council, like Queenstown, try a little bit harder to understand the concerns of industry and work with us for a solution."
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